Wind

Ocean Winds and Aker lock in oars for 'important step' in Scottish floating wind expansion

European developers, already partnering in Asia and US already on deepwater projects, aim to bid into highly anticipated ScotWind round about to start taking bids

The Saltire flag flutters in the wind on board the Hebrides Caledonian MacBrayne ferry
The Saltire flag flutters in the wind on board the Hebrides Caledonian MacBrayne ferryFoto: Jeff J Mitchell

European offshore wind developers Ocean Winds and Aker Offshore Wind (AOW) have set the seal on a partnership to build floating wind projects off Scotland, starting with the highly anticipated ScotWind leasing round about to open to bids.

The companies, which currently have projects being jointly progressed in the US Pacific and off South Korea, said they would have the “size, experience and dependability” to bring floating wind technology into the country’s waters – where two pilot arrays, Hywind Scotland and Kincardine, are currently installed – at commercial scale.

“AOW is an ideal complement to Ocean Winds with synergies that make this partnership stronger than the sum of its parts,” said Ocean Winds UK managing director Dan Finch.

“Aker brings five decades of offshore experience in the oil & gas industry together with expertise and competence to industrialise and scale new floating offshore technology. Ocean Winds brings a history of world-leading renewable electricity development.”

AOW chairman Kristian Røkke added: “Aker has a history of transitioning and delivering marine industry capabilities, technology, and digital innovation from Scotland to manage and de-risk offshore projects.

“In Ocean Winds we have a partner which has delivered Moray East, [at 950MW] Scotland´s largest wind farm yet. Adding to that Aker’s offshore fabrication competencies and strong supply chain partnerships, the consortium is perfectly positioned to take this important step for Scotland in the transition to renewable energy.”

Scotland in January opened the gates for ScotWind, the first offshore wind tender to be administered from Holyrood and widely seen as a key accelerant in the development of the sector in the North Sea, with expectations the tender could uncork a £9bn ($11.5bn) wave of investment in the regional industry as some 10GW of new plant is built.

The round has already attracted a stellar array of offshore wind contenders including Vattenfall, Orsted, BP and TotalEnergies. Bids are due in on 16 July.

Floating wind markets are on the verge of explosive growth globally, with recent analysis from UK-based low carbon advisory body the Carbon Trust calculating over 70GW of floating wind could be turning by 2040 – a near-1,000-fold expansion of the current global fleet – as international supply chains take shape to support development of commercial-scale projects around the world.
DNV, meanwhile, in its latest Energy Transition Outlook, forecast some 260GW of floating wind turning worldwide by 2050, but this expansion hinges on the sector reducing LCOE to €40-60/MWh ($50-75/MWh) from levels today that are three times as high
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Published 8 July 2021, 17:16Updated 8 July 2021, 17:16
Ocean WindsAker Offshore WindAker SolutionsKristian RokkeScotland