Natural Power to Lead EIA for 1 GW Buchan Floating Wind Project

Floating Energy Allyance (FEA), a consortium comprising BW Ideol, Elicio, and BayWa r.e., has selected Natural Power to lead the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Buchan floating wind project offshore Scotland.

At the beginning of this year, FEA secured the rights, through Crown Estate Scotland’s Scotwind leasing round, to develop a floating offshore wind farm with a capacity of approximately 1 GW in the area designated as NE8 in the Scottish Government’s Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind.

Now, the company is progressing further work on environmental studies and design as it moves towards developing detailed proposals for consent.

According to FEA, the Buchan project could create 3,900 jobs in Scotland at the peak of manufacturing and construction.

“This is a brilliant project that not only puts Scotland at the forefront of floating wind, but also brings significant benefits for our supply chain, skills and employment opportunities. As we continue to grow our environmental team, projects like these ensure our people are at the forefront of the industry working with pioneering technology on a global scale, with the very best of it happening here in Scotland”, said Chris Pendlebury, Director of Environment at Natural Power.

A couple of months ago, BW Ideol, Elicio, and BayWa r.e., together with other ScotWind winners, signed the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) Collaborative Framework Charter which aims to help build a pipeline of supply chain work in the country.

Located some 75 kilometres to the northeast of Fraserburgh on the Aberdeenshire coast, the Buchan floating offshore wind project will use BW Ideol’s Damping Pool technology, which is designed to optimise the performance of floating wind turbines, even in extreme conditions.

Operable in water depths of over 30 metres, it is the most compact architecture when moving to 15-20 MW turbines, Natural Power said.

The technology was already used on two floating wind projects in France and Japan, and will soon be the subject of a multi-unit pre-commercial project, named EolMEd, in the French Mediterranean.

EolMed is ready to move to commercial-scale deployment, with Scotland’s waters providing the opportunity to take the Damping Pool technology to the next level, according to Natural Power.

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