KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) unit, Vantage RE Ltd, has acquired a 49 per cent stake in an offshore wind farm company, Blyth Offshore Demonstrator Limited (BODL) from EDF Renewables, a subsidiary of the French utility company, Électricité de France (EDF).

The acquisition marks TNB’s maiden entry into the international offshore wind market as BODL currently owns offshore wind assets off the coast of Blyth, Northumberland, England.

The assets include five turbines with a total installed capacity of 41.5MW (Blyth 1) and further development rights for a floating offshore wind project of up to 58.4MW (Blyth 2) off the Northumberland coast.

"This landmark acquisition is one of the planned strategic acquisitions for TNB to accelerate its journey in delivering on its global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) vision,” TNB president and chief executive officer Datuk Baharin Din said in a statement today.

He said TNB has recently announced its Sustainability Pathway, a blueprint with an aspiration to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 whereby the pathway is underpinned by its commitment to reduce 35 per cent of its emissions intensity, as well as 50 per cent of its coal generation capacity by 2035.

"We believe this partnership will give us an edge in an increasingly competitive industry as we look to rapidly scale up our global RE portfolio and strengthen our position in the future energy landscape,” he added.

TNB aims to grow its RE capacity to 8,300MW by 2025.

Bruno Bensasson, chairman and CEO of EDF Renewables and EDF group senior executive vice-president, renewable energies, said as an international low carbon energy leader, EDF Group is committed to contribute to the sector technological evolution and competitivity.

"TNB and EDF share the same ambition to contribute to a low carbon society. Therefore, beyond this first partnership, we envisage further cooperation on low carbon electricity generation in the European continent, as Blyth, and in Asia,” he said.

Vantage RE was launched on July 1, 2021 to own, operate and manage TNB’s portfolio of renewable energy assets in Europe. — Bernama