Falck Renewables and BlueFloat Energy have signed option agreements for their two joint projects selected in the ScotWind offshore leasing round, and another option agreement for a third project for which the partnership secured a lease in a consortium with Ørsted.
The two leases secured by Falck Renewables and BlueFloat Energy are located east of Aberdeen and north of Fraserburgh, with the projects named Bellrock and Broadshore, respectively.
With Ørsted, the two companies will be developing a floating wind farm at a site east of Caithness which will be known as Stromar. The 1 GW Stromar is Ørsted’s first large-scale floating wind development project.
The three areas could accommodate a total of approximately 3 GW of offshore wind capacity.
The projects are scheduled to be operational by the end of the decade, subject to securing consent, commercial arrangements and grid connections.
As part of the preparatory work to deliver the projects, research will be carried out with the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) to investigate the potential effects of floating offshore wind developments on the marine environment.
Work has already begun with Energy4All on a new framework which will allow residents of Scotland and Scottish communities to own a stake in the consortium’s offshore wind projects in Scotland.
A collaboration with Energy Skills Partnership Scotland (ESP) to help train up a skilled workforce in time for construction to begin is also underway, the partners said in a press release.
In January 2021, when they formed the ScotWind partnership, Falck and BlueFloat said they planned to deploy the semi-submersible floating concrete structure, OO-Star Wind Floater, developed by Dr.techn. Olav Olsen and owned by Floating Wind Solutions AS, on their ScotWind projects.