This model outlines the economics of an offshore wind project, based on guidance for Equinor’s flagship, 816MW “Empire Wind”: an exciting development off New York, constructing c80 x c10 MW wind turbines, each as tall as the Chrysler building.
Base case IRRs are c5%, at current wholesale power prices of 6c/kWh, although this is a punitive scenario ignoring optionalities and externalities.
IRRs could be uplifted to 10%, through a combination of power marketing, continued cost-deflation, levering the project, carbon prices and feed-in tariffs.
Download the model to flex each of these variables and test the resulting economic sensitivity. A variant of the model is also provided for a floating offshore wind farm, which requires >2x higher power prices.