UK takes 'critical step' to boosting floating offshore wind capabilities

The UK government is investing £55m ($71m) to help create what it says will be the first port able to make floating offshore wind turbines at scale.

The government announced today that the money will help transform the Port of Cromarty Firth in Scotland into a “major hub for the UK’s world-leading floating offshore wind industry”.

The expansion will make the port the first to be able to make floating offshore wind turbines “on site and at scale” in the UK, said the government.

The investment paves the way for the port to secure matched funding from other investors, it said. Work on the project is expected to be completed by the start of 2028.

Construction work on the port’s expansion is expected to create up to 320 jobs, said the government. When fully developed, the port is expected to support up to 1,000 skilled jobs.

The funding is a “critical step towards creating the UK’s first custom-built floating offshore wind integration port here in Invergordon, and to creating hundreds of green jobs,” said Port of Cromarty Firth CEO Alex Campbell.

“By creating a site where wind turbines can be constructed, Port of Cromarty Firth will become a major hub for the UK offshore wind industry.”

Offshore wind is crucial to the government meeting its goal to run a nearly clean power grid by 2030 and “become a clean energy superpower.” The Labour government elected last year is targeting 43-50GW of offshore wind by the end of the decade.

Last year, the government handed a Contract for Difference to Green Volt, a 560MW floating wind project that it is claimed will be the first large-scale floating wind development of its kind in Europe.