French floating offshore wind pioneer Ideol has signed a letter of intent with the Port of Cromarty Firth in Scotland to potentially use the latter for future project development.
The agreement would see Ideol and its future local construction partners use the port’s land and Firth berthing sites, as well as cooperating towards further developing the facilities and infrastructure to establish a concrete hull serial manufacturing yard for incoming floating wind tenders.
The partners said the deal could create well in excess of five hundred new Scottish construction jobs.
Ideol has teamed up with Elicio and BayWa RE under the name Floating Energy Allyance to submit proposals for the ScotWind tender launched by Crown Estate Scotland.
Port of Cromarty Firth chief executive Bob Buskie said: “This partnership shows the vital manufacturing role the Port can play in the rapid expansion in renewable projects off Scotland’s shores.
“We have some of the best marine resources in the world and are in close proximity to around 14 of the 15 areas identified in the Crown Estate Scotland’s marine plan for offshore wind development.
“This agreement is a significant boost to the long-term future of the Port, Invergordon and the Highlands, as it looks to capitalise on the transformation of the energy market from oil and gas to renewables.”
Ideol chief executive Paul de la Gueriviere said: “This agreement is testament to our vision to build our floaters as close as possible to the offshore installation sites and in close collaboration with the local communities.
“We have demonstrated such high local content track record in France and Japan and do not see any reason why we could not reiterate such success stories in Scotland.”