OMNI Features｜Battery Maker Contemporary Amperex Technology to Build Own $1.8bn Offshore Wind Farm / Daewoo E&C Adopts Chinese Installation Vessel for Offshore Wind Project in Korea / EnergyAustralia takes $1.1 billion hit on retail unit as business model shifts

｜Battery Maker Contemporary Amperex Technology to Build Own $1.8bn Offshore Wind Farm
This week, the Fujian Provincial Development and Reform Commission approved the offshore wind power project of the Chinese battery giant, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), with an investment of 1.8 billion USD and a capacity installation of 800 MW.

CATL is headquartered in Ningde, southeastern Fujian province, near where the wind farm would be based. Its 2023 profits were reported as soaring by 48% to $6.3bn amid a global demand boom for electric vehicles.

CATL is not the first industrial giant with plans to develop its own offshore wind farm in China. German chemicals group BASF (Badische Anilin-und-Soda-Fabrik) announced in July last year it will build a 500 MW offshore wind farm with local turbine group Mingyang Smart Energy Group to power an $11bn mega-plant.

｜Daewoo E&C Adopts Chinese Installation Vessel for Offshore Wind Project in Korea
According to recent reports, Daewoo E&C has signed an agreement to utilize a Chinese installation vessel, the jack-up vessel Gang Hang Ping 5, in an offshore wind power project in South Korea. The vessel is currently under construction.

The idea of markets outside China using Chinese-owned purpose-built offshore wind installation vessels is unheard. For some time now, Chinese companies have gradually expanded their reach from the Chinese market toward the global market. Moreover, Chinese foundation and cable demand are increasing, As the Asian market is advancing, a wider spectrum of Chinese suppliers is becoming more relevant.

｜EnergyAustralia takes $1.1 billion hit on retail unit as business model shifts
EnergyAustralia, the third biggest energy retailer in the country, has taken a $1.1 billion hit to the value of its retail business, citing reduced margins and growing competition for the move. The write down of goodwill was announced late on Tuesday by EnergyAustralia’s Hong Kong based owner CLP Holdings, and will be included in the annual accounts to be released in late February.

EnergyAustralia CEO Mark Collette says retail margins have fallen from more than eight per cent of customer bills as recently as 2015/16 to just 2.3 per cent now. He also cites increased competition and the higher cost of capital.

The whole industry is having to rethink their business models as the market moves away from centralised fossil fuel generation and one-way traffic on the networks, to more consumer focused technologies and two-way traffic on the grid.

Collette says the company is working hard on its “Behind the Meter (BTM)” solutions with customers, essentially trying to discover what role it can play in helping households manage rooftop solar, battery storage and the growing push to electricifation, including EVs and household appliances such as cooktops and heaters.

What is working well for EnergyAustralia, the company says, is an improvement in its wholesale market operations – essentially the money it makes from selling electricity into the wholesale market through its own production and from market deals.

Reference:Recharge｜Esgian｜RenewEconomy