RWEOY - BP enters U.K. offshore wind winning 3 GW of leases

In its first move into the U.K.'s offshore wind market, BP ([[BP]] +3.2%) says it won the right to develop two leases representing 3 GW in partnership with German utility EnBW.The 50-50 JV expects to make four annual payments of £231M on each lease before the projects reach final investment decision; the projects are expected to be operational in seven years.Once operational, the 3 GW generating capacity would be sufficient to power more than 3.4M U.K. households with clean electricity."We are fully confident that these highly advantaged resources will deliver - at a minimum - the 8%-10% returns we demand of our renewables investments," BP CEO Bernard Looney says.Also in the auction, a 50-50 JV between Total ([[TOT]] +1.1%) and Macquarie's Green Investment Group wins the rights to a 1.5 GW project off the U.K.'s East Anglian coast.RWE (RWEOY), Germany's largest power producer, is the preferred bidder for two sites with total potential capacity of 3 GW.BP

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BP enters U.K. offshore wind, winning 3 GW of leases