Salamander, a joint venture between Orsted, Simply Blue Group and Subsea 7, has been offered an exclusivity agreement as part of Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round.
The 100MW Salamander floating offshore wind project, located 35km off Peterhead, is designed to provide Scotland and its supply chain with an early opportunity to deliver floating offshore wind ahead of the larger-scale ScotWind buildout.
Salamander will demonstrate a package of innovative technologies at commercial scale, readying them for roll out in utility-scale projects such as the ScotWind leases.
The INTOG round was split into two pots – one for smaller scale innovation projects of 100MW or less and one for larger projects linked to oil and gas infrastructure. Salamander was successful in the innovation route.
Salamander project director Huw Bell said: “This opportunity through INTOG will allow us to progress the project, which will play a significant role in how the industry delivers floating wind going forward and help the Scottish supply chain to ramp up activities for the local and international market.
“We expect our approach to support the floating wind industry in the same way that fixed offshore wind successfully reduced costs over the last 10 years.
“De-risking floating wind technologies for future commercial projects will allow Scotland to maximise the financial benefit of its strong offshore wind resource and generate long-term jobs for local communities.”
Salamander is undergoing an environmental impact assessment (EIA).
The project has submitted its EIA Scoping Report to Marine Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council, who have now passed it to statutory and non-statutory consultees for their review and responses to the proposed site and scope of the EIA.
The project has a grid connection agreement with the National Grid to enable it to be delivered by 2030.
Gabriel Davies, Head of Floating Wind at Orsted, said: “Salamander is a stepping-stone project designed to stimulate and support innovative, renewable supply chains in Scotland, maximising opportunities to support renewables around the world.
“With floating wind on the cusp of industrialisation, Salamander will play a crucial role in bringing down costs and accelerating the technology’s full-scale commercial deployment.”