Three more industry teams led by Equinor, RWE and Magnora/TechnipFMC, have confirmed they are bidding in Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind Leasing offshore wind programme
Equinor said ScotWind “is a good strategic fit with its ambitions to continue to develop its North Sea offshore wind cluster and further deepen its presence across the UK.
“With around half the sites being floating offshore wind opportunities, Equinor believes the Scottish Government is offering a great opportunity to develop large-scale floating offshore wind projects,” the company said.
Equinor highlighted the fact that it has more than a decade of operating experience from floating offshore wind, including the Hywind project off the northeast coast of Scotland.
Equinor senior vice president business development renewables Jens Økland said,“Equinor has the experience and capabilities necessary to develop the next full-scale floating offshore windfarm in Scotland. Leveraging our offshore execution capabilities and our leading position in floating offshore wind, we are ready to create more long-term value and drive the industrialisation of floating offshore wind further. We see floating wind as an enabler for the Scottish Government to achieve its offshore wind targets and help reach its ambitious net-zero target of 2045.”
RWE UK country chair Tom Glover said, “The ScotWind process is a critical step for the Scottish Government to deliver its ambitious target of 11 GW of offshore wind by 2030.
“As a long-standing partner and investor in the Scottish renewables industry, RWE is pleased to be able to support this through our participation. Our company is a highly experienced, innovative recognised player in the offshore wind sector. We anticipate success in ScotWind would unlock significant opportunities to re-energise the local supply chain, while helping to create important, high-quality, long-term employment. We look forward to continuing as a trusted partner to Scotland in the delivery of its offshore ambitions.”
In a statement, the company did not confirm whether it was bidding for leases for bottom-fixed or floating wind sites – or for how many sites – but did says that “as part of its natural evolution, RWE is rapidly developing its floating wind capabilities and, with partners, it is undertaking three floating demonstration projects, in the US, Spain and Norway, which will ensure the business is very well placed to deliver new projects in deeper waters off the Scottish coast, secured as part of the leasing round.”
Magnora ASA said it had submitted applications to ScotWind for two zones, through its subsidiary Magnora Offshore Wind. Magnora Offshore Wind is a partnership between Magnora and TechnipFMC.
“Magnora Offshore Wind has worked closely with the local supply chain to ensure that concepts can be realised with local sustainable solutions, which will benefit local economies for decades,” the company said.
“Magnora is a leader in the renewables sector as an owner in offshore wind, onshore wind and solar PV development projects. When combined with TechnipFMC’s unique technologies, experience delivering integrated projects and novel Deep Purple initiative to integrate wind and wave energy with offshore green hydrogen storage, this partnership will enable Magnora Offshore Wind to realise significant opportunities in the growing offshore floating wind market.” Magnora Offshore Wind said it also intends to participate in the first offshore wind application round in Norway.
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