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Norway’s Statoil ASA said Monday it had partnered with Germany’s E.ON SE EOAN to develop the 1.2 billion euro ($1.35 billion) Arkona offshore wind project off the coast of Germany, expanding into new European waters as it continues to step up its offshore wind exposure.

The Norwegian oil company said it had acquired 50% of the 385-megawatt project, which will be operated by E.ON and could supply enough electricity to fuel 400,000 German homes when it starts operating in 2019.

“This is one of our largest renewable energy investments ever,” said Irene Rummelhoff, head of Statoil’s New Energy Solutions unit.

The Arkona wind project will be located in the Baltic Sea, 35 kilometers northeast of the Rugen island in Germany.

The global offshore wind market experienced a record year by installed capacity in 2015. Consultancy FTI Intelligence has projected installed generation capacity to nearly quadruple to 31,200 megawatts in 2019 from 8,179 megawatts in 2014.

Statoil established a separate new energy unit last year, in a bid to capitalize on the growing renewable energy sector, notably offshore wind.

So far, the company has only invested in offshore wind in the U.K., where it operates the 317-megawatt Sheringham Shoal project and is developing the $2.2 billion, 402-megawatt Dudgeon project, set to start producing late 2017.

Statoil is also cooperating with Scotland’s SSE PLC (SSE.LN) and Germany’s RWE AG (RWE.XE) for the massive 4,800-megawatt Dogger Bank project off the U.K coast and has bid for the 600-megawatt Kriegers Flak offshore wind project off Denmark, in cooperation with E.ON.

By Kjetil Malkenes Hovland

Source: MarketWatch