The BlueFloat Energy and Nadara Partnership has chosen Sarens PSG to study how floating wind turbines can be deployed on an industrial scale in the North Sea.
The programme will be delivered by the existing engineering team at Sarens PSG’s Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence in Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone
The study will focus on developing methods to deploy completed floating wind structures directly from construction or production facilities to operational sites.
It aims to achieve this for production line scale volumes, spanning multiple operational years.
By investigating deployment operations, the study will identify key cost, risk, and scheduling implications and assess the impact of these factors on port infrastructure within the context of the partnership’s projects.
UK portfolio director at the BlueFloat Energy and Nadara Partnership David Robertson said: “These studies represent a significant step forward in the development of our pipeline of floating offshore wind projects in Scotland and will not only deepen our understanding of some of the most pertinent technical challenges facing our industry, but also leverage local expertise through the regional supply chain.”
BlueFloat Energy and Nadara are developing the 99.5MW Sinclair and Scaraben floating offshore wind farms as part of the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round in 2022.
They previously brought in Edinburgh-based consultancy Arup to assess emerging technologies needed to deliver the projects, and First Marine Solutions (FMS) to design mooring solutions for the projects.
In addition to Sinclair and Scaraben, BlueFloat is developing the Bellrock, Broadshore and Stromar ScotWind projects off the coasts of Aberdeen, Fraserburgh and Caithness, respectively.
However, Sarens PSG’s study is expected to help inform the entire pipeline of floating wind projects in Scotland.
Sarens PSG managing director Steve Clark said: “While deployment techniques have been trialled in smaller-scale demonstrator projects, scaling these processes to achieve major deployments with next-generation solutions at pace and cost-effectively will be transformative for the industry.”
He added: “This investment in innovative research underlines the partnership’s commitment to delivering successful floating offshore wind projects that are pivotal to global energy transition efforts and achieving Net Zero targets. It has the potential to be an absolute game-changer for the sector.”
Sarens PSG established its Centre of Excellence in December 2024, saying it would create 25 jobs in the Aberdeen.
The £1.6 million investment is aimed at boosting the company’s heavy lifting and engineered transport capabilities in take advantage of the UK’s growing offshore wind industry.
Sarens PSG was previously commissioned by BlueFloat Energy and Nadara to study the challenges associated with the integration the latest and next-generation turbines onto floating offshore wind foundations.
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