Who are the multinational firms with Russian assets that are part of Scotwind, Scotland’s renewables revolution?

Firms involved in major renewable projects in UK while holding Russian fossil fuel stakes

The three companies who continue to hold Russian assets while pursuing major renewable projects as part of ScotWind projects are all major energy players.

The French energy giant, TotalEnergies, which posted record profits of £16.8 billion last year, holds a 38 per cent stake in the consortium behind the West of Orkney offshore wind farm, one of the most advanced ScotWind projects, which could become operational as soon as 2029.

With more than 100,000 employees across 130 countries, the firm’s reach is vast, and it is a long-established player in the UK energy market, operating around 30 per cent of the UK Continental Shelf’s gas production. Separate to its ScotWind ventures, the firm is already involved in wind power developments in Scotland. It owns 51 per cent of Seagreen, the large-scale offshore wind farm located off the Angus coast.

Engie, another French company involved in ScotWind, is also a global energy brand, with upwards of 100,000 staff. It posted profits of £1.8bn last year. Like TotalEnergies, it has an extensive UK presence, with investments across renewable energy and storage. Earlier this year, the company struck a deal with the online retail giant Amazon to increase its share of output from the Moray West offshore wind farm, a joint venture between Engie and EDP Renewables that is under construction.

That joint venture, known as Ocean Winds, is also working on the Arven offshore wind farm, part of ScotWind. Spanning two sites east of Shetland, its overall footprint will produce 2.3GW, the equivalent annual consumption of around two million homes. It is expected to become operational in the early 2030s.

Meanwhile, the Japanese firm Marubeni has its European operations headquartered in the UK. In October last year, it signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK government, and pledged to invest up to £10bn with its partners over the next decade in clean energy in the UK. In November 2021, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Scottish Enterprise to collaborate on floating offshore wind and green hydrogen businesses.