Cerulean Winds is thrilled to announce a beautiful new collaboration! Their Aspen initiative will be the UK’s first specialist hub for the assembly, deployment and O&M (operation and maintenance) of floating offshore wind (FLOW) projects. An ambitious undertaking indeed, the pipeline will leverage over £10.9 billion of investment over the next 50 years. Of that, £5.9 billion will go to the project development and construction phases.
The Scottish-based Aspen project signals a deep, cross-sector collaboration. Other significant partners are NOV, Siemens Energy, Bilfinger, Ocean Installer and Haventus. The UK consortium of the 12 participants is looking to create at least 1,000 jobs. This project is an example of their continuing efforts in establishing a floating offshore wind supply chain industrial base.
Of the new sites, Aspen will be the first to grow and develop. Specifically, it will support delivery of the UK Government’s target of 50 gigawatts (GW) of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030. This new move complements a long string of efforts to shift away from pollution-heavy energy and strengthen local economies.
In its operational phase the project will spend £100m annually. In exchange, it is poised to deliver an astounding £4.1 billion GVA gross value added e. For the UK economy. Importantly, £2.8 billion of this GVA is expected to come to Scotland directly. Cerulean Winds has already made £1 billion of commitments to domestic spending. They’re looking to pull down just shy of £1 billion in foreign investment to start developing the project.
“This project has the potential to support thousands of skilled jobs and billions in investment to the UK. From a base in Scotland, Cerulean Winds and our delivery partners want to grasp the opportunity of creating a floating offshore wind supply chain industrial base in the UK.” – Dan Jackson, Cerulean Winds founding director
Once completed, the Aspen project will significantly increase the UK’s renewable energy generation capacity. Together with two other projects called Beech and Cedar, it could have as many as 300 turbines. Energy Minister Michael Shanks welcomed news of the project, highlighting its importance in Scotland’s shift to clean energy.
“The clean energy transition is well under way in Scotland – thanks to state-of-the-art offshore wind projects, like this one at the Port of Ardersier, that will help us deliver on our Plan for Change and clean power by 2030 mission.” – Energy Minister Michael Shanks