Vårgrønn, a joint venture between Eni’s Plenitude and HitecVision, and Flotation Energy, have made exclusivity agreements for the development of two floating offshore wind farms in Scotland with 1.9GW of capacity.
The agreements were signed under Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas leasing round.
The two wind farms, Green Volt and Cenos, will supply renewable energy to oil and gas platforms that aim to reduce their carbon emissions from the assets they supply.
The two projects were awarded exclusivity by Crown Estate Scotland in March 2023.
Among the most advanced offshore wind farms in Europe, they can help to decarbonise oil and gas platforms. The electricity from the projects will also be supplied to the UK grid.
Green Volt will have a capacity of 560MW. When completed in 2027, it will solidify Scotland's position as a world leader in floating offshore wind.
It will feature up to 35 floating turbines and generate 1.5TWh of clean energy annually, while avoiding around one million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
Cenos is the larger of the two, with a capacity of 1.4GW.
It is set for completion in 2028 and will feature between 70 and 100 turbines, each with a generating capacity of 14–20MW.
The floating project will generate 5.5TWh of clean energy annually, sufficient to power eight oil and gas platforms.
During the construction phase, the two wind farms will create 8,000 jobs. Several hundred more will be created during operations.
They will jointly generate 7.5TWh of clean energy annually.
Vårgrønn CEO Olav Hetland stated: “Our pioneering projects play a key role in the energy transition. They have a direct impact by delivering renewable energy, but crucially Green Volt and Cenos are also advancing the offshore wind industry by scaling floating wind technology far beyond the size of current projects.
“By being frontrunner projects, which are already well advanced in terms of their development and the required environmental assessments, Green Volt and Cenos will contribute to establishing a new supply chain for floating offshore wind around the North Sea.”
Flotation Energy CEO Nicol Stephen stated: “Our Green Volt and Cenos projects will play a critical role in speeding up the energy transition, strengthening Scotland’s position as a global leader in floating wind.
“Participating oil and gas platforms will have electricity, currently generated by gas and diesel turbines, replaced by renewable energy. The wind farms will also deliver up to 7TWh of power back to the UK grid each year – the equivalent of providing affordable, renewable electricity for more than 2.4 million UK homes.
“In an era where the cost of living is at an all-time high, offshore wind provides an effective, low-cost solution to help the UK tackle climate change and deliver long-term renewable power.”
