Ocean Winds and Aker Offshore Wind unveil bids for UK's biggest wind energy development in Outer Moray Firth
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JOINT bids to create the UK's largest wind energy development in the Outer Moray Firth will be outlined at an Aberdeen conference tomorrow.
Ocean Winds (OW) and Aker Offshore Wind (AOW) have today unveiled ambitious plans to make Scotland a global leader in floating offshore wind.
The partnership revealed it has submitted bids, as part of the ScotWind process, for several sites in the Outer Moray Firth. ScotWind is the process currently being undertaken by Crown Estate Scotland, at the direction of the Scottish Government, to grant property rights for the seabed in Scottish waters for new commercial-scale offshore wind projects.
The OW/AOW proposal would use floating devices to deliver 6,000MW of energy – which would be by far the largest wind energy development in the UK and power millions of homes.
They say their plans would create thousands of jobs as part of the country’s "just transition" and deliver a giant boost for Scotland’s supply chain and economy with exportable technology innovation.
The Floating Offshore Wind 2021 conference, hosted by RenewableUK and Scottish Renewables, will get under way in Aberdeen tomorrow, September 15, where the partnership will outline their bid.
Floating offshore wind is the latest advent in renewable energy technology.
Around 80 per cent of the world’s wind resources are in waters deeper than 60 metres and are unsuitable for fixed foundations, but floating turbines can make massive contributions to the energy grid because the infrastructure is based away from the coastline in deep water.
OW and AOW would use steel-based semi-submersible floaters called "Windfloat".
Sian Lloyd-Rees, managing director of Aker Offshore Wind UK, said: "Our vision is for Scotland to become a global leader in floating offshore wind, contributing to our net zero mission with green energy at scale.
"We can create thousands of highly-skilled local jobs through billions of pounds of investment in local supply chains and infrastructure.
"Our bid would deliver for the next generation by harnessing the green power and extraordinary potential of Scotland’s deep-water resources."
OW is the developer behind the 950MW Moray East windfarm – Scotland’s largest windfarm.
Dan Finch, managing director of Ocean Winds UK, said: "After a decade of work and investment, we have successfully delivered our vision of Scotland’s biggest windfarm Moray East, in the 50m water depths of the Moray Firth.
"The Transition to Net Zero means that we need to open new areas of the sea for offshore wind development. We have the skills, experience and technology to take offshore wind out of the Moray Firth and into the deep waters of the North Sea using floating technology.
"This will create a commercial-scale pipeline for floating foundations. We are already working with the local stakeholders to establish a site for their manufacture.
"Our vision is leading the world’s commercial-scale delivery of floating offshore wind in Scotland so that Scotland can lead the world in floating foundation manufacture and export."
Aker established Aker Offshore Wind last year.
