Cerulean Winds today announced plans for an investment of £20billion in a massive green power project in Scottish waters, which could create thousands of jobs.
The North Sea Renewables Grid (NSRG) will be an offshore integrated green power and transmission system which is to remove millions of tonnes of production emissions.
It will be powered by floating wind - and oil and gas platforms will be able to plug in for clean power as soon as 2028, while there are also future plans to export green power to grids outwith Scotland.
Cerulean and partner Frontier Power International are to develop three sites in the central North Sea featuring hundreds of floating turbines.
This follows success in Crown Estate Scotland’s world-first leasing round designed to allow offshore wind energy to directly supply oil and gas platforms.
Bids from 13 projects were chosen for INTOG (innovation and targeted oil and gas) leasing.
Consortium
The NSRG delivery consortium also includes NOV, Siemens Gamesa, Siemens Energy, DEME and Worley.
Phase one will focus on oil and gas operators to support their brownfield modifications, with future phases exporting green power to grids in southern UK and Europe.
Dan Jackson, founding director of Cerulean, said: “The oil and gas sector is wrestling with the challenges of meeting the North Sea Transition Deal emissions-reduction targets whilst supporting UK energy security.
“We recognise that to achieve meaningful reductions at the pace required, a reliable basin-wide approach is needed that they can plug into.
“Early oil and gas electrification supports the country’s energy security, net-zero action and delivers huge benefits to the supply chain and economy, creating 10,000 jobs. With our partners, we will accelerate access to green power and provide the infrastructure for the next phase of the North Sea’s life.
Getting the market ready
“We are targeting a build-out before ScotWind developments, allowing the supply chain to respond, creating crucial partnering opportunities for the ports and getting the market ready to deliver floating wind at scale.
“It will make a material impact on Scotland’s emissions, removing millions of tonnes of CO2 a year to support a just transition. Basin-wide scale gives greater flexibility, lower pricing and supply robustness. Work with end users has begun in earnest so that we can aim for first power availability in 2028.”