Scottish floating wind farm in frame to be 'world's biggest' gets Highland green-light
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners-led project on site of pioneering Dounreay Trì will start with single turbine pilot before being built out to full 100MW array
Scotland’s Pentland floating wind project – at 100MW in the frame to be world’s largest deepwater array – is formally moving ahead, following greenlighting by developer Highland Wind.
<b>Focus your mind: get the insight you need with the Recharge Agenda</b>
The global energy transition is gathering momentum – and the accompanying news-stream becoming an information deluge. Separate the green giants from the greenwash and the hard facts from the click-bait headlines with Recharge Agenda, our curation of the market-making events of the week, distilled down into one quick-read newsletter. Sign up here for free
Sited 6.5km off the Caithness coast, the project, which will power some 70,000 homes in the region once producing in 2027, will launch with a single turbine pilot before being expanded into the planned full-scope development.
“We believe in an inclusive approach to developing our offshore wind projects, ensuring that local companies and communities gain the advantage from the opportunities these projects bring,” said Michael Hannibal, partner at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, majority-owner of Highland Wind.
“We’re committed to awarding Scotland’s supply chain with the local content work needed to support job creation and boost the country’s floating wind capabilities and experience.”
Announcement of the Pentland project’s go-ahead follows the recent confirmation that CIP will be bidding, in consortium with SSE Renewables and Marubeni, in Scotland’s ScotWind auction now underway.
Alan Hannah, managing director at COP UK, which is shepherding development activities for the Pentland floating wind project, said: “Floating wind projects are vital to the UK meeting its net zero targets.
“This is an exciting floating project for Scotland ahead of the ScotWind announcements early next year. Learnings and understandings from pre-commercial projects are key to the speedy commercialisation of floating wind in Scotland.”
The first phase of the Pentland project will see a single 8.6MW turbine installed, with construction anticipated in 2023, while the larger floating array project would get in to the water as early as2025.