Statoil complements portfolio with more wind

Statoil, a Norwegian company focused on oil and gas, said it was diversifying its portfolio with a stronger hold on British offshore wind projects.

The Norwegian energy company said it signed a letter of intent with state-owned renewable energy company Statkraft to take over as the operator of the Sheringham Shoal wind farm off the British coast, which is already in operation.

"Taking over the operatorship for Sheringham Shoal represents a milestone for Statoil, as our first operatorship during commercial operations," Irene Rummelhoff, a vice president at Statoil, said in a statement.

Working since 2012, Sheringham Shoal is one of the largest offshore wind farms in service in the world with its capacity to provide enough power to meet the annual demands of nearly a quarter million average households.

Statoil already counts several projects in its renewable energy portfolio. The company earlier this year unveiled an energy-storage project dubbed Batwind at its Hywind floating offshore wind farm. Through a memorandum of understanding signed with the Scottish government, the company aims to install a Lithium battery storage system within two years.

As part of the arrangement with Statkraft, the company said also that it aims to double its ownership of the Dogger Bank wind farm to 50 percent. That's the world's largest offshore wind farm, with the capacity to provide power for 5 million average homes.

"This is in line with our strategy to gradually complement Statoil's oil and gas portfolio with profitable renewable energy and other low-carbon solutions," Rummelhoff said.