Kincardine floating wind pioneers launch bid for 7GW in upcoming Scottish auction

Cobra and Flotation Energy plan to chase 1.5GW-size projects in highly anticipated ScotWind offshore round, with winners due to be announced in January 2022

One of the floating wind units for Scotland's Kincardine project en route to site
One of the floating wind units for Scotland's Kincardine project en route to siteFoto: KOWL
Developers Cobra and Flotation Energy – which recently started producing power from the world’s biggest floating wind farm, the 50MW Kincardine, in the North Sea – plan to bid for up to 7GW in Scotland’s upcoming ScotWind licensing.

Working through their joint venture (JV) Offshore Wind Ltd, which will be partnering with consultancies Wood and also with Royal HaskoningDHV, the companies will be targeting 1.5GW projects in the landmark tender.

“These bids bring together a partnership which has very significant expertise in delivering major projects in the Scottish North Sea,” said a spokesperson for Offshore Wind Ltd.

“We are very pleased to be working with both Wood and Haskoning, building on the strong success that we have already had this year, winning our [480MW] Morecambe project [in the UK round 4 auction] from the Crown Estate.”

The Offshore Wind Ltd spokesperson noted that the Kincardine windfarm had given the JV “invaluable experience of delivering a major renewable energy project in the challenging environment of the North Sea” and that the developer was “now determined to do more”.

The move by the JV off Scotland comes as Cobra-Flotation team are pushing into wider floating and offshore wind plays in the region, including a 2.5GW build-plan off Ireland, the 100MW White Cross floating array in the UK Celtic Sea, and a JV to develop projects off Taiwan.

Cobra director José Antonio Fernández said: “Cobra have delivered the largest floating windfarm in the world right here in Scotland and together with our partners Flotation Energy, we have built on this success by securing rights to our Morecambe project as well as securing the rights to our White Cross floating project off Devon and Cornwall.

“With our ScotWind projects we are determined to stay at the forefront of the offshore wind sector, delivering green jobs and green power in Scotland for the generations ahead.”

Flotation Energy’s chief executive Lord Nicol Stephen stated: “Building on the success of the Kincardine floating windfarm, our partnership is now in a unique position to deliver successful large-scale Scottish offshore wind projects.

“Scotland has some of the very best offshore wind opportunities in the world. Our experience gives us the opportunity to help shape the Scottish offshore wind industry for decades ahead and to make a major contribution to Scotland’s 2045 net zero target.”

The Global Wind Energy Council expects 16.5GW of floating turbines to be in the water by 2030 around the world, a dramatic increase from the 6.5GW it was anticipating only a year ago, with most of that growth coming in the second half of the decade when the sector, which currently has barely 100MW in place, is tipped for dramatic lift-off
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Published 22 September 2021, 13:44Updated 22 September 2021, 13:44
UKScotlandEuropeCobraFlotation Energy