Scottish floating offshore wind farm eyes Chevron-backed platform

The 200MW Salamander floating offshore wind project proposed by a joint venture between Simply Blue Energy and Subsea 7 has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ocergy to assess the possible use of its foundation technology.

Salamander is planned for 100m-deep waters off the north-east coast of Scotland. The developers aim to secure a lease in the ScotWind process and a contract for difference (CfD) in the UK's 2025 tender.

According to its developers, Salamander will provide a ‘stepping-stone’ to bridge the gap between floating offshore demonstration projects and future commercial wind farms. As such, it aims to achieve a significant amount of local content.

Because foundation manufacturing and assembly was identified as a key element to secure higher local content, decisions on technology selection are being made with greater focus on the local supply chain.

Ocergy’s OCG-Wind semi-submersible steel platform concept has “significant potential for commercial scale deployment within the capabilities of the current Scottish supply chain,” according to Simply Blue Energy. It stated: “The heart of the OCG-Wind design philosophy is around building in modules for rapid assembly. With space a limitation within Scottish ports, the ability to assemble foundations at speed means there is a lower requirement for quayside real-estate in order to deliver a high throughput of complete units.”

Working with Ocergy will enable Salamander to access more Scottish port facilities, use a third less steel mass and benefit from the scalable fabrication and assembly process, the developer explained.

“The timing and size of the Salamander project fits perfectly in our technology development pathway and is a necessary step to de-risk the gigawatt scale projects we expect to participate in at the end of the decade,” said Dominique Roddier, CEO of Ocergy.

Ocergy recently announced the completion of an investment round from Norwegian industrial group Moreld Ocean Wind (MOW) and Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV), the venture arm of the American oil and gas company.

Simply Blue Energy is developing another floating offshore wind project, 300MW Emerald, in the Irish Celtic Sea, in partnership with oil major Shell.

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