LONDON (Reuters) -BP remains committed to its offshore wind growth plans after the energy company booked a $540 million impairment on two U.S. projects, CEO Murray Auchincloss told Reuters on Tuesday.
BP and its partner Equinor are assessing their next steps after the state of New York rejected the companies’ request to revise upwards power supply contracts for the giant projects, Auchincloss said.
The pretax impairment on the projects was due to “inflationary pressures and permitting delays,” BP said.
Norway’s Equinor booked a $300 million impairment on the projects last week.
“New York put out a 10-point plan, which would help move these projects forward… We’ll be looking at that with our partner Equinor and deciding what we do moving forward,” he said, after BP reported third-quarter earnings of $3.3 billion.
“We remain committed to offshore wind, in particular here in the UK and in Germany,” Auchincloss added.
BP paid Equinor $1.1 billion in 2020 for a 50% stake in the venture to develop the Empire and Beacon offshore wind projects, which have a combined capacity of 3.3 gigawatts, capable of powering 2 million homes.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Jason Neely and Louise Heavens)
