Cerulean Winds has revealed plans to build the North Sea Renewables Grid (NSRG), an offshore integrated green power and transmission system, powered by floating wind, that oil and gas platforms will plug into for clean power.
Cerulean and partner Frontier Power International will develop three 333 square kilometer sites of hundreds of floating turbines, producing multiple gigawatts of electricity, after being offered the lion’s share of seabed leases in the recent Crown Estate Scotland INTOG round.
The scale and location close together in the Central North Sea will enable a new basin-wide offshore transmission system to be constructed, which platforms can access, allowing them to remove millions of tons of production emissions by trading gas and diesel generation for a flexible, cost effective, and cleaner alternative.
With its delivery consortium of partners including NOV, Siemens Gamesa, Siemens Energy, DEME, and Worley, Cerulean Winds will deliver one of the country’s largest infrastructure investment projects (20 billion pounds) and support the sector’s decarbonization targets.
Phase 1 of the NSRG will focus on oil and gas operators to support brownfield modifications.
“The oil and gas sector is wrestling with the challenges of meeting the North Sea Transition Deal emissions reduction targets whilst supporting U.K. energy security,” said Dan Jackson, founding director of Cerulean Winds. “We recognize that, to achieve meaningful reductions at the pace required, a reliable basin-wide approach is needed that they can plug into when they are ready to for affordable power. Early oil and gas electrification supports the country’s energy security, net zero action, and delivers huge benefits to the supply chain and economy, creating 10,000 jobs. With our partners, we will accelerate access to green power and provide the infrastructure for the next phase of the North Sea’s life.”
“For Scotland, the HVDC transmission not only provides clean energy to the National Grid, but provides export of power directly to continental Europe,” said Humza Malik, Frontier Power founding partner.
Cerulean has agreed to an approach with its industrial partners early to reduce risk in the project in the same way other large scale infrastructure developments are initiated. In total, the three windfarms will contribute more than 12 billion pounds GVA to the U.K.’s economy.
“We are targeting a build-out before ScotWind developments, allowing the supply chain to respond, creating crucial partnering opportunities for the ports and getting the market ready to deliver floating wind at scale,” Jackson said. “It will make a material impact on Scotland’s emissions, removing millions of tons of CO2 a year to support a just transition. Basin-wide scale gives greater flexibility, lower pricing, and supply robustness. Work with end users has begun in earnest so that we can aim for first power availability in 2028.”
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