SSE and Partners Name 2.6 GW Floating Offshore Wind Project in Scotland

August 25, 2022, by Adnan Memija

SSE Renewables and its ScotWind partners, Marubeni Corporation and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) have officially named their up to 2.6 GW floating wind project offshore Scotland for which the companies won the rights in the recent ScotWind auction.

The offshore wind farm is called Ossian, after a historical series of books that depict the quests of a third-century Scottish leader, following his adventures across rolling seas.

The project is in the E1 Zone in the Firth of Forth off the Angus Coast and is one of the largest lease areas offered by Crown Estate Scotland to any bidder in the ScotWind process.

“As one of the largest wind farm developments in Scottish waters, Ossian represents a new Scottish tradition in power generation – and, like the poems, links far-off lands through our partnership of companies from around the world, bringing together local knowledge and global expertise”, said David Willson, Ossian Senior Project Manager.

The 858-square-kilometre site is suitable for the deployment of floating offshore wind turbines to deliver up to 2.6 GW of new installed capacity, enough to be capable of powering almost 4.3 million Scottish homes and offsetting around five million tonnes of harmful carbon emissions each year, according to SSE Renewables.

The floating offshore wind farm is expected to start generating power before the end of the decade.

“Ossian will be a critical project and will provide a significant proportion of the renewable energy capacity we need to meet government ambition and help us reach net zero”, said Wilson.

In June, the developers selected RPS to carry out Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) for their floating wind project.