Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn, a joint venture between Plenitude (Eni) and HitecVision, have signed exclusivity agreements for two floating offshore wind developments with up to a total of 1.9 gigawatt (GW) capacity under Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round.

When completed, the windfarms will provide renewable electricity to oil and gas platforms, aiming to significantly reduce carbon emissions from the assets they supply. Green Volt and Cenos will also provide electricity to the UK grid. The windfarms are among the most advanced offshore wind projects in Europe for the electrification and decarbonisation of oil and gas platforms. 

Nicol Stephen, CEO of Flotation Energy said: “Our Green Volt and Cenos projects will play a critical role in speeding up the energy transition, strengthening Scotland’s position as a global leader in floating wind.

Participating oil and gas platforms will have electricity, currently generated by gas and diesel turbines, replaced by renewable energy. The windfarms will also deliver up to 7TWh of power back to the UK grid each year – the equivalent of providing affordable, renewable electricity for more than 2.4 million UK homes.”

He added: “In an era where the cost of living is at an all-time high, offshore wind provides an effective, low-cost solution to help the UK tackle climate change and deliver long-term renewable power.

Overall, the Green Volt and Cenos projects are estimated to save around 3 million tonnes of carbon each year. This will play a crucial role in achieving Scotland’s 2045 Net Zero target and delivering The North Sea Transition Deal’s goal to halve offshore emissions by 2030.”

Green Volt and Cenos are also designed to accelerate the delivery of renewable energy to the UK, whilst also kickstarting the development of a robust local supply chain for floating offshore wind, centred around the North Sea. The projects will help to position the UK to supply the new and rapidly growing global floating offshore wind market, which is expected to reach 300 GW, in the next 30 years.

Olav Hetland, CEO of Vårgrønn, said: “Our pioneering projects play a key role in the energy transition. They have a direct impact by delivering renewable energy, but crucially Green Volt and Cenos are also advancing the offshore wind industry by scaling floating wind technology far beyond the size of current projects.

By being frontrunner projects, which are already well advanced in terms of their development and the required environmental assessments, Green Volt and Cenos will contribute to establishing a new supply chain for floating offshore wind around the North Sea”.

Having now signed exclusivity agreements for both floating wind projects, Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn are making valuable progress towards leading the commercialisation of floating offshore wind technology in Europe.

RenewableUK’s Senior Policy Analyst on Emerging Technologies Laurie Heyworth said: “Innovative frontrunner projects like Green Volt and Cenos will play a crucial role in boosting the development of a world-class floating wind supply chain in the UK for projects here and abroad.

Our analysis shows that floating wind will provide more than half of the UK’s offshore wind generation by 2050, bringing over £43 billion in economic value and more than 29,000 jobs. 

It will play a critical role in regenerating coastal communities in particular, with £4 billion of public and private investment needed to transform up to eleven ports across the UK into industrial hubs for mass roll-out of floating wind by the end of the decade”.

Combined, Green Volt and Cenos are estimated to create over 8,000 jobs during construction as well as several hundred jobs during the operational phase, delivering around £6 billion of gross value added (GVA)