Scottish Floating Offshore Wind Project Clears Onshore Planning Hurdle

Grid Connection

April 4, 2024, by Adnan Memija

The Green Volt floating offshore wind farm in Scotland, being developed by Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn, a joint venture between Plenitude (Eni) and HitecVision, has been granted full onshore planning approval.

The developers of the floating offshore wind project submitted the offshore consent application to the Scottish Government Marine Directorate on 20 January 2023 and the onshore application to Aberdeenshire Council on 3 August last year.

Also contained within the planning submission was the proposed cable route, which was selected based on feedback from stakeholders, said the partners. The new onshore substation will be situated near New Deer.

New Deer Cable Route — *Photo Source: Green Volt Floating Offshore WindFarm*

“We are thrilled to achieve this important milestone in the development of our Green Volt project. By being execution-ready, Green Volt is uniquely positioned to kickstart a local supply chain for floating offshore wind in the UK and Europe. The opportunity for suppliers to get a first-mover advantage in a rapidly growing global market is now,” said Chris Hill, UK Managing Director at Vårgrønn.

In 2023, Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn secured a lease for two floating offshore wind projects in Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) round.

That same year, the developers signed exclusivity agreements for the Green Volt and Cenos floating offshore wind projects.

Located 80 kilometres east, offshore from Peterhead, Scotland, the Green Volt project will use up to 35 floating wind turbines to deliver up to 560 MW of renewable energy.

Once completed, the wind farm will deliver electricity to oil and gas platforms, replacing power currently generated by gas and diesel turbines. Green Volt will also provide electricity to the UK Grid.

“Green Volt is a highly ambitious project, designed for rapid deployment to provide significant support to the North Sea Transition Deal’s ambitions to cut offshore emissions by 2030,” said Alex Quayle, Project Director at Flotation Energy.