Scotland, Brittany Seal Offshore Wind Pact

August 4, 2023, by Adnan Memija

The Scottish Government has signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Brittany, a region in France, relating to the offshore wind industry.

With this cooperation agreement, the Government said it aims to strengthen Scotland’s position as a leader in Europe’s offshore renewables industry.

The MoU will provide Scottish companies with opportunities to capitalise and share best practices on the expansion of offshore wind projects off the coast of Britanny.

“Scotland’s rich renewables endowment means we can not only generate enough cheap green electricity to power Scotland’s economy, but can also export electricity to our neighbours, supporting jobs here in Scotland and the decarbonisation ambitions of our partners”, said Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Shona Robinson.

France announced the launch of the tendering procedure for the 270 MW commercial floating wind project off the coast of southern Brittany in April 2021.

The floating offshore wind project will be located off the coast of South Brittany and is expected to have a capacity of 230 MW to 270 MW.

The project, which will be the first commercial-scale floating offshore wind farm in France, is planned to generate 1 TWh of renewable electricity per year for a period of 35 years.

The approved measure will run for 20 years, starting with the operation of the wind farm in 2028, and will have a total maximum budget of EUR 2.08 billion.

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“We are keen to capitalise on the opportunities that we expect to see from the deployment of floating offshore wind in Brittany waters, so we applaud the steps being taken by the Scottish Government and Brittany’s regional government to establish closer economic and cultural ties”, said Michael Hook, Business Development Director of Edinburgh-based Swift Anchors.

In March, a delegation of fifteen Scottish companies met in Rennes, with firms from the Britanny offshore wind and marine energy sector to discuss the development of partnerships around floating wind turbines.

“With the help of Scottish Development International, we have established good links within Brittany following a series of joint initiatives including Swift Anchors’ attendance at the Bretagne Ocean Power event in Rennes earlier this year, where the quality of engagement and depth of interest in our anchoring solutions and potential collaboration were evident. Today’s agreement between the two governments gives us further encouragement to our business efforts in Brittany“, said Hook.