The Scottish government has approved over £778,000 of funding to support producing floating offshore wind foundations at the Port of Ardersier.
The funding will support an 18-month front-end engineering design (FEED) study led by BW Ideol to develop a facility dedicated to the serial production of its Damping Pool concrete floating foundations.
The facility is being designed to deliver one foundation every 12 days from a single line, equivalent to approximately 500MW of annual capacity.
Once operational, it could create around 1,200 direct jobs in the Highlands and catalyse a broader regional supply chain.
Scottish energy minister Stephen Gethins said: “Once complete, this production facility has the potential to generate over a thousand new well-paid, skilled jobs, as well as supply chain opportunities for businesses in the Highlands and across the country.
“That’s why the Scottish government is backing its development with more than £778,000, as part of our wider strategic investment to develop Scotland’s ports and offshore wind chain, so that communities across the country can benefit from Scotland’s energy wealth through job creation and increased energy security.”
The Damping Pool foundation has been identified as the preferred floating foundation for the 960MW Buchan offshore wind farm, in which BW Ideol holds a 33% stake alongside BayWa and Elicio.
Set to be based 47 miles (75km) off the coast of Fraserburgh, north of the St Fergus gas terminal and south of Rattray Head lighthouse, the project will use 70 turbines in total.
The project opened a new office in Glasgow earlier this year to serve as a central base for project delivery, stakeholder engagement, and industry and supply-chain collaboration.
Buchan project director Clare Lavelle said: “Paving the way for the manufacture of Scotland’s first concrete floating foundations, using project partner BW Ideol’s proven Damping Pool technology, we are anchoring a new industrial capability and acting as a catalyst for the Scottish floating offshore wind supply chain.
“Our project alone is expected to support 2,900 jobs during construction and deliver more than £2bn in lifetime economic value to Scotland, demonstrating the scale of opportunity this support helps to realise.”
Michael Behr is renewables reporter at Energy Voice. He’s been reporting on energy globally for over 10 years, now focussing on the technologies driving the UK’s energy transition.
Got a story for Michael? Get in touch here.