Scottish Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse avoided a bumpy ride yesterday when he cast off in a new air-cushioned offshore wind vessel.
Mr Wheelhouse was in Peterhead to witness the launch of the Sea Puffin, an innovative new offshore supply vessel.
The development of the Sea Puffin 1 has been supported through the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator, a collaborative research and innovation programme part-funded by the Scottish Government.
Remaining funding came directly from nine offshore wind developers, including Equinor, Orsted, ScottishPower Renewables, SSE Renewables, Shell and Vattenfall Wind Power.
The near-50-foot long daughter craft – designed by the Norwegian company, ESNA – can be launched from aboard a larger mother ship.
It is owned and operated by WindPartner, a company that specialises in operations and maintenance for the offshore wind industry.
Mr Wheelhouse said: “I’m delighted that Sea Puffin has been supported through the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator, which was part-funded by the Scottish Government. Mechanisms like this help support and grow the renewables sector.
“Having been out on the vessel, I have to say it was a very smooth and enjoyable experience. Given the weather conditions Scottish seas can experience the Sea Puffin will clearly bring benefits to those needing to visit or access offshore wind farms with consequential benefits for operation and maintenance activities.
“On top of that, they’ll make savings on fuel costs through operating as a ‘daughter-craft’ and this could become particularly important as we explore development of sites further offshore around Scotland’s coasts. ”
Testing of the vessel is being carried out at Equinor – formerly Statoil – and Masdar’s Hywind Scotland Pilot Park, the world’s first commercial floating offshore wind farm, located 15 miles off the coast of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire.
Dan Kyle Spearman, manager of offshore wind access systems at the Carbon Trust, said: “With the right support, innovative ideas can be quickly become reality. We provided initial support for the ‘Sea Puffin’ back in 2016 and today it is exciting to see a state-of-the-art vessel in operation, proving what it can really do.
“The results so far are promising, with these continuing trials reducing risk and making sure that the vessel meets the needs of developers.”
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