According to the company’s website news release on March 27, 2023, leading developers and owners of offshore wind projects Vårgrønn, a joint venture between Plenitude (Eni) and HitecVision, and Flotation Energy have been awarded exclusivity by Crown Estate Scotland for areas to develop a total of up to 1.9 GW of floating offshore wind capacity across two projects, Green Volt and Cenos.
The awards are made under Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round for offshore wind projects that provide low-carbon electricity to oil and gas platforms.
The successful bid means that the Green Volt and Cenos windfarms could begin generating first power from 2027 and 2028 respectively, making them the most advanced projects for electrification and decarbonisation of oil and gas platforms with floating offshore wind in Europe.
The power and grid-connection supplied through Green Volt and Cenos windfarms will provide renewable energy to oil and gas platforms in the surrounding areas, replacing power currently generated by gas turbines. Simultaneously, up to 7 TWh of energy from the projects will be supplied to the UK grid annually, providing consumers with renewable electricity. Overall, the projects are estimated to cut emissions by 3 million tonnes of carbon each year while supporting the commercialisation of floating offshore wind technology.
By securing area exclusivity in the INTOG round, the Green Volt and Cenos projects are positioned to spark a local supply chain for floating offshore wind to develop in Scotland, also providing significant contributions to Scotland’s 2045 Net Zero target, and The North Sea Transition Deal’s goal to halve offshore emissions by 2030.
Vårgrønn and Flotation Energy are delighted that the Crown Estate have recognised the quality of their applications for both Green Volt and Cenos and they now have the opportunity to enter into Exclusivity Agreements for these highly ambitious projects and continue the dialogue with the stakeholders necessary to bring these projects to fruition.
Learn more about Green Volt: www.greenvoltoffshorewind.com
Learn more about Cenos: www.cenosoffshorewind.com
Olav Hetland, CEO of Vårgrønn, said: “Our successful bid across both our floating wind projects positions Green Volt and Cenos as important pioneers for developing commercial-scale floating wind in Europe. Our projects are designed to swiftly bring renewable energy to the market while building a local supply chain for floating offshore wind centered around the North Sea. With the awarded leases, we look forward to advancing the Green Volt and Cenos projects.”
Nicol Stephen, CEO of Flotation Energy said: “We are very pleased to have been offered seabed rights for both of our North Sea decarbonisation projects. These floating windfarms will make a huge contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions from offshore oil and gas platforms by replacing industrial-scale gas turbines with renewable energy straight from our windfarms, while also becoming long-term infrastructure assets providing renewable electricity to millions of Scottish homes for decades ahead.
The scale of these floating wind projects is huge. They will deliver billions of pounds of new infrastructure investment and help to create thousands of local jobs, giving a major boost to the Scottish supply chain.
Today’s announcement allows us to get ahead with delivering renewable electricity to offshore platforms well before the end of the decade. Our challenge now is to drive forward with the delivery of these exciting projects as quickly as possible.”
Richard Wood, British Ambassador to Norway, commented: “I am delighted to see further investment from Norway in the development of the UK’s offshore wind capacity. This latest award to Vårgrønn and Flotation Energy will be a further boost for the UK’s journey to a green energy transition, more jobs in the green economy and longterm energy security from renewable sources for UK consumers. The UK’s partnership with Norwegian companies is working to deliver on a NetZero decarbonised economy.”
