Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm secures variation to offshore consents
Scottish Ministers have approved a variation application to refine the Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm’s offshore consents.
Richard Copeland
The variation includes a reduction in the number of turbines, which will be deployed within a smaller area, while maintaining 100MW capacity. The project’s operational lifespan will be up to 25 years. The application was submitted after further survey work and advancements in project design allowed the proposals to be refined.
The wind farm is located 7.5km off the coast of Dounreay, in Caithness, and will generate enough green electricity to power up to 70,000 homes.
Richard Copeland, Project Director, said:
“This is a significant milestone for the project and the floating offshore wind sector across Scotland and the UK.
“The Pentland project will pioneer a number of innovative technologies enabling the industrialisation of floating offshore wind along with delivering significant benefits to the local economy. We now have all key development requirements in place and are ready to move forward.
“Throughout the consent process we have prioritised sustainability, with the goal of minimising any negative environmental impacts of the project. We are confident this refined design is future proof and ensures we can deliver the same benefit to the local community, and Scotland’s energy sector, while further reducing the project’s environmental impacts.
“Our application has been shaped by the views of local communities and stakeholders and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Scottish Government, Marine Directorate and those stakeholders for their support and positive engagement throughout. We are committed to ensuring this project delivers real benefits to local communities as well as advancing Scotland’s floating wind expertise.”
The Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm is being developed by Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) on behalf of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
About Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm
Once constructed the Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm is estimated to provide enough green energy for almost 70,000 homes per year, approximately 65% of those in the Highland Council area.
It will showcase Stiesdal Offshore’s TetraSub floating structure technology, which is the world’s first fully industrialised floating offshore technology, offering a cost-effective floating foundation made up of factory-made modules.
The process significantly reduces manufacturing hours and enables assembly to take place domestically within local ports, maximising the opportunity to local supply chains and communities.
The project is being developed by Highland Wind Limited, which is majority owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), through one of its CI Funds with Hexicon A/B as a minority shareholder.
Project development activities are being led by CIP’s development partner, Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP). The project development team is based in COP’s Global Floating Wind Competence Centre in Edinburgh. www.pentlandfloatingwind.com
About Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners
Founded in 2012, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S (CIP) today is the world’s largest dedicated fund manager within greenfield renewable energy investments and a global leader in offshore wind. The funds managed by CIP focus on investments in offshore and onshore wind, solar PV, biomass and energy-from-waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity, storage, advanced bioenergy, and Power-to-X. CIP manages 11 funds and has to date raised approximately EUR 25 billion for investments in energy and associated infrastructure from more than 150 international institutional investors. CIP has more than 400 employees and offices in Copenhagen, London, Hamburg, Utrecht, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Munich, Luxembourg, and Melbourne. www.cip.dk
About Copenhagen Offshore Partners
Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) conducts offshore wind development activities on behalf of the funds managed by CIP. COP is a leading and experienced provider of project development, construction management and operational management services to offshore wind projects. The company is headquartered in Denmark and has offices in UK, Taiwan, Australia, Japan, Southern Korea and Vietnam. www.cop.dk
