World’s First Floating Wind Innovation Centre Opens
offshore wind technology in the UK, with funding from both the Scottish Government and Innovate UK.Floating offshore wind represents a huge economic opportunity, with more than 19GW of potential projects in the pipeline through the ScotWind Leasing process, a new leasing round on the horizon in the Celtic Sea, and the prospect of transferring skills and knowledge from oil and gas to aid the Just Transition. The INTOG leasing round has also established an opportunity for floating wind to contribute to decarbonising North Sea energy production.Through the successful roll out of this pipeline of activity
Floating Wind Leasing Round in the Celtic Sea
The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has set out further details of a new leasing round for three commercial-scale floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea off the coast of South Wales and South West England. The projects have the potential to deliver enough clean, renewable energy for more than four million homes.In one of the largest initiatives of its kind in the world, sites totalling 4.5GW of floating wind off the coast of South Wales and South West England will be leased across three agreed areas of the Celtic Sea. This is now expected to be
Marine Power Systems PelaFlex Floating Wind Platform Receives Feasibility Certification from DNV
Systems, the company is working with several major energy developers on engineering studies, focusing on the deployment of their technology at specific sites in Europe and further afield. That includes RWE, Wales’ largest energy generator, to help prove the platform’s capabilities in the Celtic Sea marine environment and test the deliverability of the technology in the region. They are also working on pre-commercial projects in Gran Canaria and Portugal to prove and further optimize their technology
How to Stop Skyscraper-sized Floating Wind Turbines from Drifting Away
from inside of the pile. This forces the pile into the seabed without the need for hammering (an effect similar to the use of a plunger to unclog a drain). This is the type of anchor used to secure Hywind Scotland.Choosing the right anchorFloating wind farms are being planned for areas such as the Celtic Sea and coastal waters west of France. However, the presence of hard rock seabeds in both areas means drag anchors will be difficult to use.Even in dense sand, a drag anchor may only partly enter the seabed, creating inadequate support for the largest turbines. Drilled piles are the best way to anchor
Floating Wind Power Gains Traction But Can It Set Sail?
if ports were upgraded.It said up to 11 ports will need to be transformed into hubs to enable the roll-out of floating offshore wind at scale - along with investment of at least 4 billion pounds ($5 billion). Britain's Crown Estate will launch a tender for 4 GW of floating wind in the Celtic Sea off Wales this year but said the area had the potential to produce more than 20 GW. While Britain wants to lead the world on floating wind, some experts say South Korea could be the real winner given its existing ports and large-scale engineering capacity. "South Korea will be commercial
Markets: The Challenges of Developing Floating Wind at Scale
scale floating wind developments through the Scotwind and INTOG awards of at least 24 gigawatts (GW) of floating wind capacity representing close to 1,500 floating turbines that will come on stream through 2030. And this will be soon followed by the award of at least 4 GW of capacity through the Celtic Sea floating wind auctions. The U.S. has awarded floating wind leases with a potential of over 8 GW of capacity in the Pacific and will move ahead with large floating wind leases in the Atlantic this year. Norway is planning to award 1.5 GW of floating wind capacity at Utsira Nord this year and France
Mooreast to Create "at least 100 jobs" in Aberdeen with Subsea Foundation Production Facility
subsea foundation production facility there.Once secured, the site, which will also support the consolidation and assembly of mooring components, will act as a European base for Mooreast’s efforts to target an increasing number of offshore wind projects, including the ScotWind auction, the Celtic Sea Cluster and the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) project, which are expected to deliver over 20 GW, 5 GW and 4.5 GW of floating wind energy, respectively. The company is working with ETZ Ltd, the private sector-led and not-for-profit body leading the North East of Scotland&rsquo
Rovco Expands Offshore Capabilities with Glomar Supporter Charter
the Glomar Supporter to deliver a comprehensive package of site characterisation solutions and specialised offshore survey projects, with a key focus on supporting the rapidly growing pipeline of offshore wind projects from their Aberdeen operational base, across ScotWind, the Southern North, Irish and Celtic Sea developments," Rovco added.Built in 2009, the Glomar Supporter underwent an extensive rebuild and refurbishment in 2021. The 60m vessel is equipped with DP2 station keeping capabilities, a carrying capacity of around 1395t DWT and a combined deck space of 497 m2
Celtic Sea Floating Wind in Focus
The Celtic Sea is well positioned to maximize its position as an early hub for floating offshore wind. Still, it’s’ going to be a huge industrial challenge not unlike the oil industry faced when developing the Brents in the 1980s, today’s Floating Offshore Wind conference in Aberdeen heard.The region currently has 4-5 100MW scale projects in progress, including the TwinHub project, which received the UK’s only CFD (contract for difference – a funding mechanism) for floating offshore wind earlier this year, said Helen Donovan, senior business development manager, Energy
February 2024
