(Bloomberg) – Shell Plc canceled plans to build two wind farms off the coast of Scotland as the British oil major pulls back from significant investments in the sector.
Shell had previously been in two joint ventures with Iberdrola SA’s ScottishPower Renewables division to develop the CampionWind farm and the MarramWind farm. The companies swapped stakes in the projects, leaving Shell as the sole owner of the CampionWind project. It subsequently returned the lease for the wind farm to Crown Estate Scotland, according to an emailed statement from Shell.
“Shell believes that returning the CampionWind lease to CES will offer the best opportunity for any potential future the site may have,” the statement said. “Substantial pre-investment work has already been undertaken to de-risk the site, which Shell hopes will support any possible future.”
Under Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan, Shell has pulled back from previous ambitions to be a major developer of offshore wind farms. It also canceled plans earlier this year for a project in the US that has faced opposition from the Trump administration.
Shell won the leases for the two sites in a massive auction held in 2022. Since then, the cost of offshore wind has risen sharply, including for the nascent floating technology that will likely be deployed at the CampionWind and MarramWind projects. Bloomberg News previously reported that the company had sought to sell its stakes in Scottish wind projects.
ScottishPower Renewables will continue to develop the larger of the two sites, the 3-gigawatt MarramWind project off the northeast coast. It could be one of the first commercial floating wind farms in the world, the developer said in a statement.
