The Falck Renewables and BlueFloat Energy partnership is celebrating the success of three of its bids to secure seabed leases for sites destined for the deployment of large-scale floating wind technology in Scotland.
“The Scottish coastline is ideal for developing offshore wind projects and our team is thrilled to be given the opportunity to deploy our expertise to deliver these projects in Scotland,” says Carlos Martin, CEO of BlueFloat Energy. “The potential for boosting the economy and reinforcing Scotland’s position at the forefront of the energy transition is huge. We have already carried out extensive work on mapping out the Scottish supply chain and now look forward to ensuring we work with as many local companies as possible.”
Two of the partnership’s proposed projects – a site east of Aberdeen in Plan Option E1 and a site north of Fraserburgh in Plan Option NE6 – have been granted leases from Crown Estate Scotland. A proposed site east of Caithness in Plan Option NE3 will also be developed by a consortium of Falck Renewables, BlueFloat Energy and Ørsted. The three areas could accommodate a total of approximately 3 GW of offshore wind capacity with the projects scheduled to be operational by the end of the decade, subject to securing consent, commercial arrangements and grid connections.
“We are delighted that our applications have won the support of Crown Estate Scotland and that our offshore wind projects will be making a considerable contribution to providing Scotland with clean energy,” comments Toni Volpe, CEO of Falck Renewables. “Falck Renewables has a worldwide renewables portfolio and, with our growth strategy, we are on track to facilitate the global transition to a low carbon future.”
The Falck Renewables, BlueFloat Energy, Ørsted consortium has already begun work with community ownership experts Energy4All on a new framework which will allow residents of Scotland and Scottish communities to share the financial benefits of the offshore wind energy projects the consortium plans to build in the future.
“We are hugely excited about the positive impact these projects will have on the whole of Scotland in terms of creating jobs, economic benefit and helping to achieve a net zero future,” adds Richard Dibley, managing director of Falck Renewables Wind Ltd. “Over the past 15 years, we have seen communities empowered with the help of the financial support they have received from our onshore wind farms. We look forward to sharing the benefits of offshore wind with local communities.”
As part of the preparatory work to deliver the offshore wind projects, the consortium will collaborate with Energy Skills Partnership Scotland to help train up a skilled workforce in time for construction to begin.
Research will also be carried out with the Scottish Association for Marine Science to investigate the potential effects of floating offshore wind developments on the marine environment. Projects under discussion will examine how fishing interests and offshore wind can work together and study the interaction of fish, marine mammals and seabirds with floating offshore wind farms.
Image: Offshore Windfarm Walney Extension, Walney 03, Walney 04, 87 turbines are split between 40 MHI-Vestas 8.25 MW turbines and 47 Siemens Gamesa 7 MW turbines, all together 659 MW operated by Orsted, Morecambe Bay, Barrow in-Furness, Irish Sea, United Kingdom, Great Britain.
