Scottish Power News

Governments have decided to pay up to revive offshore wind farm developments after rising costs put at risk multiple projects that are needed to help them cut emissions and reach climate targets.Many countries are relying on a huge and rapid build-out of offshore wind farms which have high upfront costs but over the longer term can provide cheaper energy than fossil fuel plants.But some countries' wind power capacity targets started to look unrealistic this year after developers cancelled projects in the U.S.

The maritime classification society DNV has, with its partners, launched a joint industry program to establish a monitoring and reporting framework for assessing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the offshore wind installation sector. The partners of the JIP called EMRED, comprise energy companies, ScottishPower Renewables, RWE, Vattenfall, and Orsted, and installation and operation companies, Jan De Nul Group, DEME, Ziton, Cadeler, Van Oord, Fred. Olsen Windcarrier, and DNV."The expansion of renewable energy generation is a key part of the global energy transition.

Global controls technology company Proserv has acquired a minority stake in Glasgow-based power system monitoring expert, Synaptec, with whom it had initially formed a strategic alliance in October 2020 to drive forward the innovation of disruptive condition-monitoring technologies for the energy sector.Synaptec was developed as a spin-out business from Strathclyde University in 2014 with its management team, Board of Directors, and Advisory Board comprising former leaders from the power sector…

In an eventful week in which its Port of Nigg was selected as a turbine foundation marshaling port for the giant Seagreen offshore wind farm, UK-based Global Energy Group said Thursday it had struck a deal to power its Port of Nigg facilities using green hydrogen, to significantly reduce emissions at the site.The company has teamed up with ScottishPower to identify processes and plant at the facility on Cromarty Firth that could be powered by green hydrogen.Green hydrogen will be generated at the Nigg site and used to power heavy plant…

James Fisher Marine Services (JFMS), provider of marine engineering services, has been awarded scheduled maintenance contract on one of the leading offshore wind farms of the future.The specialist in services to the marine, oil and gas said that as per contract, it will  provide scheduled maintenance services at East Anglia ONE, located approximately 31 Nm southeast of the Port of Lowestoft, where it will help ensure performance at one of the leading offshore wind farms of the future.Back in 2015/16 ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) made a 25-year commitment to the Port of Lowestoft. This included a GBP25m investment into a the recently opened facility that will be the center of all day-to-day operations for the first of its planned wind farms…

Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, the UK's flagship technology innovation and research center for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, has launched a new industry-backed national technology accelerator program.The program is designed to support innovative SMEs to commercialize new technologies that will enhance the UK’s offshore wind supply chain, enabling greater UK content, whilst supporting cost reduction.The Launch Academy initiative will focus on near-to-market solutions and is supported by eight industrial and business support specialists including Red Rock Power, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), Barclays Eagle Labs, investment body Green Angel Syndicate, accountancy firm BDO, IP specialists Murgitroyd, law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn and ScottishPower Renewables.

London-based multinational law firm Linklaters has advised Green Investment Group (GIG) on the acquisition of a 40% stake in Iberdrola’s Scottish Power Renewables’ 714MW East Anglia One offshore wind farm.Once commissioned in 2020, it will be one of the world’s largest wind farms, said a note from the British law firm."This transaction is the first partnership between GIG and Iberdrola’s Scottish Power Renewables subsidiary in the UK and brings the total capacity of UK offshore wind supported by GIG to over 5.7GW across 14 projects. This is the equivalent to almost 50% of the total UK offshore wind farm capacity in operations or under construction…

Power companies including Ørsted, Vattenfall, Innogy, SSE and Scottish Power and financial investors such as infrastructure and pension funds are active in UK offshore wind power, said Deloitte.Japan, China and other countries in Asia are also showing increasing interest in the market, it said.With natural advantages including a long coastline, high wind speed and areas of shallow seabed providing desirable conditions for the construction of large offshore wind farms, the UK is the world's leading offshore wind power market.There is 7.9 GW of offshore wind capacity in the UK already and the government has set an ambitious target of over 30 GW by 2030. Accounting for 14.7% of the total power generation, offshore wind power has seen substantial growth in the UK.

UK port operator Peel Ports has revealed its plans for the major port and industrial centre at Hunterston, one of Scotland’s most important development sites comprising a 300-acre brownfield footprint, deepwater, and rail connections.It is calling on North Ayrshire residents and businesses to share their opinions about potential uses of the site, which is expected to support over 1,700 jobs and add over £140m in economic value to Scotland.The company has published its vision for Hunterston and how it intends to develop the site over the next twenty years. The details are contained in a Master Plan, published at the beginning of a six-week consultation process.Andrew Hemphill…

Associated British Ports (ABP) said that its Port of Lowestoft welcomed the Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) the Skandi Captain this week on its maiden call to the port.The visit is the latest in ABP’s partnership with Peterson UK Limited, the major logistics and service provider to the offshore energy industry.The Skandi Captain is the 50th additional call to Lowestoft since the Peterson agreement which was signed in January 2019, bringing vessel visits into the inner harbour on an almost daily basis and the number of additional calls is expected to grow even further.ABP’s ongoing investment in its infrastructure, coupled with the Port of Lowestoft’s key location…

The provider of of topside, offshore and subsea marine services and solutions James Fisher Marine Services (JFMS) has announced that its innovative offshore support vessel, Dart Fisher, has returned to sea following refurbishment at the Alicat Workboats shipyard in Great Yarmouth.The British provider of marine engineering services provider said in a press note that the £35,000 investment was timed to coincide with up and coming operations and maintenance (O&M) charter requirements to ensure that the Dart Fisher is ready to mobilise at short notice.Scott Plank, marine manager at JFMS, said: “It is vital for James Fisher Marine Services…

The logistics and service provider to the offshore energy industry Peterson UK Limited has concluded a new long-term agreement with Associated British Ports Holdings (ABP) to establish a new operational and logistics base to the Port of Lowestoft.ABP, which owns and operates 21 ports in the United Kingdom, said that the new agreement will see Peterson operate a wide range of warehouse, cargo and logistic services from the port, including fuel bunkering to support the oil & gas and renewable energy sectors being supplied from their Lowestoft Supply Base.Paul Smith, Peterson Business Manager East of England, said: “We are delighted to establish a new operations base in the Port of Lowestoft.

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.

Van Oord has been awarded the contract for East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm by ScottishPower Renewables (part of the Iberdrola Group) for the transport and installation of 102 three-legged jacket foundations. The East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm is located in the southern North Sea,  45 kilometers southeast of the town of Lowestoft, United Kingdom. The offshore wind farm will have 102 Siemens 7 MW wind turbines, with a total capacity of 714 MW. Once operational in 2020, the offshore wind farm will deliver sustainable energy to 500,000 households. Van Oord will be responsible for the logistics of all jacket foundations and piles, sourced from various suppliers, and the transport to the marshalling port of Flushing in The Netherlands.

Tim Cornelius, CEO of global tidal developer Atlantis Resources has taken a seat on the Board of Directors of Ocean Energy Europe – the industry group for ocean renewable energy – by becoming a Lead Sponsor of the organisation. The move reflects Atlantis’ position as a leading developer of commercial tidal power projects and underpins its commitment to driving the market for ocean renewable energy. Following its acquisition of pioneering tidal company Marine Current Turbines earlier this year, Atlantis Resources now owns one of the largest and most diverse portfolios in the business, with a project pipeline of 600MW. This portfolio includes the 398MW MeyGen project, the world’s largest planned tidal stream array which is currently under construction in the Pentland Firth, Scotland.

“Britannia rules the waves” paid a glowing tribute to the maritime past of the United Kingdom. Over the past three centuries as the sun began to set on the British power, resilient U.K. with its pioneering characteristics began its voyage of transformation to become a world-class maritime services center, with one of the largest clusters of marine insurance, ship finance, law, classification societies, ship broking, education and consultancy organizations. Significantly, two factors were responsible for this change. The first being marine transport, since it was the only point of access to the British Isles, and the second was the maritime trade and naval power that have had a great impact on the maritime sector influencing the country’s economy for several centuries.

CWind, a provider of services to the offshore wind industry, have signed a three-year contract to provide crew and equipment transfer for DONG Energy and Scottish Power at the West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm. The contract, which includes an optional extension for a further two-year period, is valued to CWind at £5.5 million. The Lieutenant P, the first of four CWind vessels to serve at West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm this year, is already working on site. She is one of three CWind 20T MPCs scheduled to work on site, which later this year, will be joined by the newest addition to the CWind fleet, the CWhisper 20m SWATH.

Xodus Group, Cathie Associates and UTEC Geomarine have formed an industry leading consortium to deliver a study which will aim to reduce the costs of generating electricity from offshore wind farms in U.K. waters. The Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA), which brings together nine offshore wind developers (DONG Energy, E.ON, Mainstream Renewable Power, RWE Innogy, ScottishPower Renewables, SSE Renewables, Statkraft, Statoil and Vattenfall) in a joint industry project, is working towards reducing the cost of offshore wind by at least 10% by 2015. Technology challenges are identified and prioritized by the OWA members based on the likely savings and the potential for the OWA to influence the outcomes.

Joint venture partners in the East Anglia Offshore Wind Zone, Vattenfall & ScottishPower Renewables, support local sub-contractors. Vattenfall and ScottishPower Renewables, joint venture partners behind the East Anglia Offshore Wind Zone, have awarded over £15m in contracts to businesses operating in East Anglia. Since 2010, 28 firms located in the region have benefited and it is estimated that this has helped support well over 100 jobs. Contract awards have varied from modest accommodation and catering contracts to multi-million pound marine services, research and consulting contracts. These awards by Vattenfall and ScottishPower Renewables span businesses covering the whole of East Anglia, including Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire.

Ulstein subsidiary, Ulstein Idea Equipment Solutions, complete delivery, installation & testing of two pile gripper frames (PGF) for the Offshore Wind Force JV. The PGF’s will be used by DONG Energy West of Duddon Sands (UK) Limited and Scottish Power Renewables (WODS) Limited for the installation of mono-pile foundations in the West of Duddon Sands Offshore Windfarm offshore UK. The customised pile gripper frames combine smart engineering with the latest in control technology, and are unique in that they are retractable and the lower weight of their design makes them more cost-effective.

The GL Group said it has recently strengthened its offshore team with two appointments: David Robertson who takes on the role of Head of Practice for the U.K. Marine and Offshore Project Management Services and Elaine Greig who is the new U.K. Head of Offshore at GL Garrad Hassan. David Robertson’s career in renewables began after 13 years in the onshore petrochemical industry. He worked on a number of onshore wind farm projects, including managing the delivery of the Electrical…

Plans for a £5.4-billion offshore wind farm off the coast of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides have been dropped, partly because of the presence of basking sharks in the area, reports BBC News. The project, if continued, would have had up to 300 turbines and a capacity of up to 1800MW, enough to power one million homes. Scottish Power Renewables (SPR) cited construction issues and a significant presence of basking sharks in the area for its decision. Campaigners against the wind farm welcomed the decision…

U.K. energy regulator Ofgem on Wednesday launched a £400 million tender for linking offshore wind farms in the North Sea to Britain's national power grid. Ofgem is calling for firms to construct high-voltage transmission links to connect the Westermost Rough wind farm owned by WMR Limited, part of DONG Energy, and the Humber Gateway wind farm owned by E.ON., to the grid, Ofgem said in a statement. The two sites have a combined capacity of 425 megawatts, while the successful bidders will receive a guaranteed revenue stream for 20 years, Ofgem said. Offshore wind farm developers are required by the regulator to open their transmission assets for tender to encourage competition and lower prices.