SSE Renewables has formed a new multinational partnership to work on joint bids for the ScotWind seabed leasing process.
The Perth-headquartered company has teamed up with Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation and Danish fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
It was confirmed earlier this month that the Crown Estate Scotland managed ScotWind, leasing round would close to application in March next year.
Marubeni is currently leading a consortium to build Japan’s first commercial scale offshore wind projects at Akita Port and Noshiro Port in Akita Prefecture.
It is also participating in two “world first” floating offshore wind demonstration projects called Fukushima FORWARD, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Next-Generation Floating Offshore Wind Turbine sponsored by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO).
CIP has a global offshore wind pipeline of over 10 gigawatts (GW) and has already worked with SSE on the 588 megawatt (MW) Beatrice project off the coast of Caithness.
Copenhagen Offshore Partners, who provide development and construction services exclusively for CIP, recently opened offices in Edinburgh, which will serve as their global floating offshore wind competence centre.
Earlier today, SSE announced it will launch a consultation on plans to build a 242-turbine offshore wind farm off the coast of Scotland.
Paul Cooley, SSE Renewables director of capital projects, said: “We are excited to bring together the combined strengths of each of the partner organisations. With a leading track record in developing, building and operating large-scale renewable projects in Scotland, SSE Renewables brings significant national and local experience. We will seek to maximise the opportunities that are available to the local supply chain to take part in these future projects and will continue to actively engage through the Scottish supply chain clusters.”
Hisafumi Manabe, president & chief executive of Marubeni Offshore Wind Development Corporation, said: “The global expertise that Marubeni and CIP bring to the table is important not only in fixed foundation offshore wind deployment but also in the development of critical new floating technology. We believe that ScotWind will play a pivotal role in delivering the new Scottish offshore wind target of 11GW by 2030 on the pathway to net zero bringing a wealth of economic benefits along the way.”
Michael Hannibal, CIP partner, said: “We were pleased to see the Scottish Government confirm the final Sectoral Marine Plan to give developers certainty on the potential option areas in ScotWind and look forward to finalising our bids in the coming months. We have a combined offshore wind portfolio of around 5GW in Scotland and over 20GW globally and we have our sights set on increasing this through the ScotWind process.”
Recommended for you
