Three floating wind exclusivity agreements have been signed by Cerulean Winds as part of Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas leasing round.
Independent analysis has shown that Aspen, Beech and Cedar – the three sites that will form the North Sea Renewables Grid – are expected to deliver over £10 billion combined in Gross Value Added (GVA) for the UK.
Across the development, construction, operational and maintenance phases the project is expected to create over 5,000 jobs in Scotland, with first power being targeted for 2028.
Cerulean Winds says that this will enable the North Sea Renewables Grid, a basin-wide green power generation and transmission system which is set to supply energy to oil and gas assets.
Dan Jackson, co-founder and director of Cerulean Winds, said: “This is a huge milestone in the creation of the North Sea Renewables Grid and we are incredibly grateful to Crown Estate Scotland for their support as we move to the next phase in delivering floating wind at an unprecedented scale in the UK.”
The multi-billion pound project is set to create opportunities for the domestic floating wind supply chain and Cerulean is already putting in place contract opportunities to the domestic floating wind supply chain.
© Supplied by Cerulean WindsMr Jackson added: “FEED work will begin in earnest with our Tier 1 delivery consortium setting up the packages of supply chain contracts in 2024 that will allow us to build out this development.
“To support this, we are also investing in new Scottish offices and in advanced talks with local ports and yards.”
The Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round winners were announced in March with 13 projects being successful.
Split into two categories, innovation and TOG, applicants had to meet certain criteria when applying for either of the leasing round options.
TOG looks to help decarbonise the North Sea energy sector by supporting firms to build wind farm projects connected to oil and gas infrastructure.
The proposed wind projects will provide electricity to offshore installations, cutting the carbon emissions associated.
Whereas innovation applications aim to support small offshore wind projects, capable of producing 100MW or less.
Humza Malik, Cerulean board member and chief executive of Frontier Power, added: “This is a significant milestone and huge credit must go to Crown Estate Scotland for their shepherding of the process.
“This project will deliver vast benefits to the Scottish and UK offshore wind supply chains and – alongside our contractor consortium – we are already in advanced talks with strategic suppliers.
“We all know that green jobs will be the future of the energy industry, and the North Sea Renewables Grid will have a big hand in delivering this long-awaited boom.”
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