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Crown Estate News

07 Dec 2023

Floating Wind Leasing Round in the Celtic Sea

Image courtesy RenewableUK Cymru

The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has set out further details of a new leasing round for three commercial-scale floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea off the coast of South Wales and South West England. The projects have the potential to deliver enough clean, renewable energy for more than four million homes.In one of the largest initiatives of its kind in the world, sites totalling 4.5GW of floating wind off the coast of South Wales and South West England will be leased across three agreed areas of the Celtic Sea.

27 Nov 2023

UK Offshore Wind and CCS Colocation Projects Underway

Source: Offshore Colocation Forum

The UK Offshore Wind and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Colocation Forum, set up to provide strategic coordination of colocation research and activity on the nation’s seabed, has commissioned two research projects. The projects are designed to inform the best approach to test and demonstrate the colocation of offshore wind and CCS activities in the future.To achieve the UK’s net zero targets, the UK Government is targeting the delivery of 50 gigawatts of offshore wind energy and the capture of 20-30 million tons of CO2 per year by 2030.

28 Sep 2023

Tugdock and Salamander Offshore Wind Team Up to Accelerate Floating Wind Energy Development

Credit: Tugdock

UK-based company Tugdock has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Salamander floating offshore wind farm to collaborate on innovation for floating offshore wind energy in Scotland.Tugdock, based in Cornwall, UK, has patented marine buoyancy technology that enables heavy marine structures to be built or assembled and loaded-out in ports with water depth or space restrictions.Salamander Offshore Wind is a joint venture development project between Simply Blue Group, Ørsted and Subsea7, which is developing a floiating wind farm to be located offshore from Peterhead in North-East Scotland.

24 Apr 2023

Floating Wind Power Gains Traction But Can It Set Sail?

Credit: Untrakdrover/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0

After a bumper year for floating offshore wind farm tenders, the nascent industry is poised for explosive growth in the coming decade as countries strive to cut their carbon emissions. But it's unlikely to be all plain sailing. Rising costs and supply chain bottlenecks have hit some projects and without investment in infrastructure to launch the vast turbines and tow them to sea, hopes of harnessing the full power of the ocean's winds to hit climate targets could be dashed, industry experts say.

08 Dec 2021

Offshore Renewable Energy: A Port Puzzle for Floating Offshore Wind

The (current) world’s largest floating offshore wind farm; Kincardine. Sitting off north east Scotland, it has 9.5MW turbines on semisubmersible type foundations moored to the seabed. Photo from Cobra Group.

After being very much on the margins of the offshore wind industry, floating offshore wind now appears to be ready to hit the mainstream. With gigawatt scale developments already on the horizon, what will the infrastructure needed to build and support them look like? Over the past 12 months, the floating offshore wind sector appears to have had a major dose of adrenaline. While the largest development, to date, is the relatively small-scale 50MW Kincardine project off northeast Scotland (which will be outdone by the 88MW Tampen project in Norway later next year [2022])…

19 Oct 2021

World's Largest: Kincardine Floating Wind Farm Fully Operational

Credit: Cobra Group

Kincardine floating offshore wind farm, located 15 km off the coast of Aberdeenshire, is now fully operational, Principle Power, a company that designed the 50MW wind farm's semi-submersible foundations, said Tuesday.The project, the world's largest of the type, consists of five Vestas V164-9.5 MW and one V80-2 MW turbine, each installed on WindFloat semi-submersible platforms designed by Principle Power. The Kincardine project was initiated in 2014 by Allan MacAskill and Lord Nicol Stephen, now both directors of Flotation Energy plc.

23 Sep 2021

RWE to Build Offshore Wind Hub in Grimsby

Triton Knoll Ops base will be expanded into a Grimsby Hub - Credit: RWE

Renewable energy company RWE said Thursday it would create an offshore wind operations hub at Grimsby’s Royal Dock, on the UK’s east coast.The new ‘Grimsby Hub’ will expand the existing Triton Knoll offshore wind farm base and will be the home for RWE’s specialist team for major component exchanges and offshore repairs. As part of the move, RWE’s 1.4 gigawatt (GW) Sofia offshore wind farm will also locate its operations and maintenance activities to the new hub in the future.RWE expects the new facility will accommodate around 140 RWE employees…

05 Aug 2021

SBM Offshore Eyes Offshore Wind Project Opportunities

Chief Executive Bruno Chabas. Photo copyright SBM Offshore

Oil and gas services company SBM Offshore on Thursday reported a better than expected decline in core profit for the first half of 2021 as it looks to develop floating offshore wind projects.After reducing spending sharply in the face of a pandemic-induced demand collapse, major energy companies have profitted from surging oil and gas prices that have fed into investment budgets, buoying SBM's results.The Dutch company's first-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were down 4% at $501 million, beating the $477 million expected by analysts in a company-provi

21 Jun 2021

As Big Oil Pushes into Offshore Wind, Seabed Lease Prices Will Rise

Š Studio-FI/AdobeStock

The world's largest offshore wind developer Orsted is concerned that Big Oil's eagerness to harness wind at sea could push up prices for seabed leases, making the technology less competitive, its chief executive told Reuters.European oil firms including Total, BP, Equinor and Shell have all outlined plans to speed up investments in renewables, including offshore wind, as they look to reduce their reliance on oil and gas to satisfy investors and governments which are demanding reductions in emissions."Short term we have seen it already…

29 Jan 2021

Global Energy Group Gets Financial Boost for Port of Nigg Facility Expansion

Nigg from the air - credit Inverair Drone Services (via GEG)

Scottish regional development agency, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), has approved an investment of up to £8.3m in Scottish Government funding for an £18.9m project to develop the East Quay at Global Energy Group's Port of Nigg facility.The project is aimed at helping the Highlands and Islands economy benefit more from the growth in renewable energy development, as well as meeting the needs of GEG's existing clients.Once completed, the new facility is projected to bring…

18 Nov 2020

Ideol Could Create Over 500 Jobs in Port of Cromarty Firth

For illustration - Floatgen 2 - Ideol - Credits Ideol & V.Joncheray - BD

Floating wind farm foundations specialist Ideol has signed a letter of intent with the Port of Cromarty Firth in the UK, that could create more than five hundred new Scottish construction jobs.The agreement would see the French-based company and its future local construction partners use the Port’s land and Firth berthing sites and cooperating towards further developing the facilities and infrastructure to establish a concrete hull serial manufacturing yard for incoming floating wind tenders.

02 Sep 2020

Scotland Needs to Expand Port Capacity to Accommodate Growing Offshore Wind Needs

A report commissioned by Crown Estate Scotland has found that Scotland has good technical capability to support offshore wind port functions in some, but not all locations and that investments in port capacity will be required to meet the needs of the growing offshore wind industry.Arup, technical consultants tasked with producing the report on the Scottish ports' role in the offshore wind space, said there was a significant risk that existing port capacity will be insufficient to support the offshore wind build-out rates required in Scottish waters to meet the UK-wide net-zero target.

17 Dec 2019

OGS: UK Offshore Energy Integration Advancing

Increased integration between offshore wind and other marine renewables and offshore oil and gas production can help deliver the UK’s net zero target through technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), said a study.According to a new report from the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), titled ‘UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) Energy Integration: Interim Findings’, innovative partnering between oil and gas, renewables, hydrogen and carbon capture can accelerate energy transition.The report discusses the first phase of the UKCS Energy Integration project which is led by the OGA, working with BEIS, The Crown Estate and Ofgem, considering options to help feed into a new strategic vision of the UKCS as an integrated energy basin.

09 Oct 2019

Crown Estate Hosts Round 4 Bid Talks

The Crown Estate, which acts as manager of the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has hosted a Round 4 bidders day to give offshore wind developers further insight into how it will run the 7GW seabed rights auction.More than 130 industry representatives attended a special ‘Bidders Information Day’ held in central London on Wednesday (09 October) on  The Crown Estate’s next round of offshore wind leasing (Round 4).The Bidders Information Day follows the launch of Leasing Round 4 last month and was hosted by The Crown Estate specifically for potential participants in Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 and their advisors.Participants were provided with more detail about the tender process which will open later this month…

20 Sep 2019

UK Launches Offshore Wind Leasing Round

The Crown Estate has launched its Round 4 offshore wind leasing competition for the rights to develop at least 7GW of new capacity off England and Wales.The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) has hailed today’s launch as a major step forward.The Crown Estate, which acts as manager of the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is making four broad areas of seabed available to the market, within which potential developers will have the opportunity to bid for project sites.Today’s launch follows over 18 months of engagement with the market and stakeholders through which The Crown Estate has developed and refined its proposals.Huub den Rooijen…

14 Aug 2019

Iberdrola Sells Stake in East Anglia One to GIG

Spanish public multinational electric utility company Iberdrola has entered into an agreement with Green Investment Group (GIG), part of Macquarie Group, to sell a 40% share in the East Anglia One offshore wind farm.The group will continue to be the majority shareholder, with 60% of this offshore wind farm, which will be one of the largest in the world when it enters into operation.According to transaction terms and conditions the entire value of EAO amounts to £4.1 billion and when the wind farm is operational in 2020, Iberdrola will receive £1.63 billion (about €1.75 billion [1]) for the 40% stake. These funds will be allocated to…

18 Oct 2017

World’s First Floating Wind Farm Starts Production

The Hywind Scotland floating wind farm. (Photo: Øyvind Gravüs / Woldcam - Statoil ASA)

The world's first offshore floating wind farm has started to deliver electricity to the Scottish grid, providing power to approximately 20,000 households. The 30MW Hywind Scotland wind farm, operated by Statoil in partnership with Masdar 25 kilometers offshore Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was officially opened today by First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. “This marks an exciting development for renewable energy in Scotland,” First Minister Sturgeon said. “The learnings from Hywind Scotland will pave the way for new global market opportunities for floating offshore wind energy.

15 May 2017

Shepherd Joins Bibby Offshore's Renewables Team

Dorothy Shepherd (Photo: Bibby Offshore)

Bibby Offshore, a subsea services provider to the oil and gas industry, has appointed Dorothy Shepherd as general manager, renewables. Shepherd joins Bibby Offshore with more than 15 years’ experience in the energy industry. Having spent a significant time at The Crown Estate - a key player in supporting the delivery of energy supply for the U.K. - Shepherd brings with her a wealth of offshore renewables knowledge, including the delivery of new developments and supporting infrastructure. In her new role, Shepherd will be instrumental in the delivery of new business in the renewables sector.

26 Jan 2017

VBMS Bags Anglia ONE OWF cabling Deal

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) announces that its subsidiary VBMS has been awarded a cabling contract with a value of approximately EUR 100 million by ScottishPower Renewables, for the East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm. The scope of work for VBMS consists of the supply, installation and burial, as well as termination and testing of 102 66kV inter-array cables. The project execution will commence in the first quarter of 2019 with completion scheduled for mid-2020. East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm will consist of up to 102 wind turbines, generating an overall capacity of up to 714 megawatts, and will be located approximately 43 kilometers off the Suffolk Coast in the southern North Sea.

07 Aug 2015

Forewind Scales Back World's Largest Offshore Wind Project Plans

Forewind has scaled back by a third plans to build wind farms at Dogger Bank in Britain's North Sea, which could nevertheless become the world's largest wind project, it said on Friday. Forewind -- a consortium of energy companies RWE Innogy UK, SSE, Statkraft and Statoil -- gave no specific reason for the decision. It had secured licenses from Britain's Crown Estate to build six projects at the Dogger Bank offshore zone of 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity each. The government has given consent for farms to be built at four of the sites but Forewind said on Friday it would not seek consent for the fifth and six. "These four Dogger Bank projects are a huge commitment and will require significant resources and attention from the owner companies to progress to the next stages…

21 Aug 2014

Scotland Site for World's Biggest Tidal Array

The world’s biggest tidal array is to be built in North Scotland bringing jobs and energy security to the Pentland Firth region, informs a UK Government news release. The Government has provided £10 million worth of grant funding to the Meygen project, which will provide enough electricity to power 175,000 homes and provide up to 100 jobs when fully completed. Other funders include the Scottish Government, and The Crown Estate. The £51m scheme could inspire further projects in the Pentland Firth - helping to provide clean, sustainable and secure energy and jobs for the local community for decades to come. “The project also shows what can be done when the UK and Scottish Governments work together to provide a lasting benefit for the people of Scotland.

08 Jun 2015

Offshore Wind Zone Core Samples Donated to Science

Core samples from Dogger Bank will be donated to the National Geological Repository

The wider scientific community is set to benefit from offshore wind developer Forewind’s years of surveys and research, as the organization donates all the core samples collected on Dogger Bank to a national science facility Monday, June 8, 2015. The core samples, cylindrical soil sections extracted from the seabed, will be entrusted to the National Geological Repository (NGR), located at the British Geological Survey headquarters in Nottinghamshire, for use by anyone with an interest, from consultants and contractors to academics and students researching within a wide range of earth sciences.

05 Aug 2015

Dogger Bank Wind Development Consents Total 4.8GW

Image: Forewind

Today’s planning approval for offshore wind energy at Dogger Bank takes the total of consented projects in the North Sea zone to 4.8 gigawatts (GW), almost equal to all the offshore wind capacity now in operation in the U.K. The consented development, Dogger Bank Teesside A&B is part of the Dogger Bank Zone, the largest of the Round 3 zones and the farthest from shore, but also one of the shallowest, with high wind speeds and seabed conditions ideally suited to offshore wind development.