TotalEnergies swoops for Nordic offshore wind and German battery storage

TotalEnergies is expanding its cooperation with Nordic developer European Energy to offshore wind and buying a German battery storage developer in a further boost to its renewable energy footprint.

The French oil and gas giant as part of an agreement with European Energy will acquire majority interests in 405MW of Danish offshore wind projects under development. TotalEnergies will take 85% in the developer’s 240MW Jammerland Bugt project and a 72.2% stake in the 165MW Lillebaelt South nearshore development.

Both sites already have obtained exclusivity and grid connection permits under Denmark’s open-door programme for projects without a tender, which was controversially scrapped for most other projects. Final construction permits are expected in mid-2024, while a start-up of operations is seen by 2030.

“These new offshore wind projects in Denmark are aligned with our strategy of developing renewable projects in merchant countries at a competitive cost,” said Vincent Stoquart, senior vice president for Renewables at TotalEnergies.

“This partnership will allow TotalEnergies to take advantage of European Energy's longstanding presence in northern Europe to expand its business there.”

The deal also includes the joint development of large-scale offshore wind projects in Sweden and Finland (which both don’t hold auctions for wind at sea), as well as joint bids in upcoming offshore wind tenders in Denmark.

The agreement for offshore wind follows up on a previous deal between TotalEnergies and European Energy in September 2023 for joint development and operation of onshore renewable projects in multiple geographies.

“This partnership with TotalEnergies will accelerate the renewable energy transition in Northern Europe,” said European Energy CEO Knud Erik Andersen.

“Our combined expertise in developing greenfield projects and TotalEnergies' experience in large-scale operations will enable us to deliver state-of-the-art offshore wind facilities.”

German battery player

TotalEnergies on Tuesday also said it had signed an agreement to acquire Kyon Energy, which it said is a leading Germany battery storage developer, for €90m ($98m) plus some earn-out payments linked to the achievement of development targets.

Kyon Energy has developed 770MW of projects since 2021 of which 120MW are already in operation, while another 350MW are under construction and 300MW are ready to build.

The company’s portfolio also includes a 2GW pipeline of advanced-stage projects.

“The acquisition of [Kyon Energy], one of the leaders in its market, is a key element in our presence in the German electricity market, which is the largest in Europe,” said Stéphane Michel, president gas, renewables & power at TotalEnergies.

“This acquisition will enable us to accelerate the development of our integrated power activities in Germany, both in production, trading, aggregation and marketing of low-carbon electricity available 24 hours a day.”

The oil group aims to have 35GW of renewables in place by 2025, up from around 20GW now.