The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) has secured GBP 3 million (approximately EUR 3.5 million) from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to advance the development of DeepWind, a planned floating and deepwater offshore wind test site in Scotland.
The two-year funding, awarded through the UK government’s Infrastructure Fund, will support engineering, environmental, regulatory and commercial work needed to bring the project to final investment decision (FID) and prepare it for delivery by 2030.
DeepWind is planned to provide full-scale test and demonstration infrastructure for floating and deepwater wind technologies in an environment representative of the conditions faced by future UK projects. EMEC said existing test sites elsewhere in Europe do not offer the metocean conditions required for many projects in the UK’s deeper waters.
EMEC identified a potential site approximately 20 kilometres west of Orkney earlier this year. The organisation had previously secured GBP 500,000 (approximately EUR 576,000) in funding through The Crown Estate’s Supply Chain Accelerator to carry out feasibility work, design scoping, environmental studies and industry engagement.
The latest funding will establish the technical, financial and governance foundations for the project and support the work required to reach FID. EMEC said potential sites have already been identified based on water depth and metocean conditions representative of future offshore wind developments.
DeepWind is being developed as a national test facility where technologies can be tested, validated and de-risked before commercial deployment. EMEC said the infrastructure could help developers address technical, insurability and bankability challenges associated with floating and deepwater wind.
The project will build on EMEC’s experience in marine energy technology testing and demonstration. Its earlier concept for a floating wind test and demonstration site envisaged six berths, including four grid-connected berths, with the facility capable of accommodating turbines of up to 20 MW.