Ocean Winds and Irish developers Mainstream and ESB have secured option agreements for projects totalling 2800MW in the ScotWind lease clearing round.
The three floating areas are in NE1 off Shetland for acreage that was not originally assigned in the original lease auction earlier this year.
Ocean Winds’ JV with Mainstream has secured the largest with a 1.8GW area for £36m.
The partners said they are committed to developing floating offshore wind on an industrial scale in Scotland, generating local jobs and opportunities in Scotland and the Shetland Islands.
Ocean Winds has also landed a 500MW project and will pay a £10m option fee, the same as ESB’s 500MW site.
The developers were selected from a total of 14 applications.
The three projects’ initial supply chain commitments indicate an average of £1.2bn investment in Scotland per gigawatt (GW) of capacity built, according to Crown Estate Scotland.
The area of seabed covered by the three projects is just over 560km2 from a total of 751km2 available in NE1.
Once agreements are officially signed later in 2022, information on supply chain commitments made by the applicants as part of their Supply Chain Development Statements will be published.
Colin Palmer, director of marine at Crown Estate Scotland, said: “This is a fantastic result for Shetland and for Scotland. These projects have significant potential to really boost Scotland’s progress towards its net zero targets, including in relation to the opportunity around green hydrogen.
“Taking these three into account, the 20 ScotWind projects now total up to 27.6GW with initial supply chain commitments indicating an average of £1.4bn investment in Scotland per gigawatt of capacity built.
“This result is further proof that Scotland is leading globally on offshore wind, deploying new technology and exploiting the potential of hydrogen.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “ScotWind will deliver a new era in Scotland’s offshore wind industry, representing the world’s largest commercial round for floating offshore wind and breaks new ground in putting large-scale floating wind technology on the map at Gigawatt scale.
“It will provide several billion pounds more in rental revenues once projects become operational, to be invested for the benefit of the people of Scotland.
“The importance of accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources, including hydrogen, has been brought into sharp relief by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the cost of living crisis.
“In Scotland, nearly 100% of our net electricity demand already comes from renewable sources and we are focused on reducing energy demand and accelerating the deployment of renewable energy.”
Ocean Winds chief executive Bautista Rodriguez said: “Ocean Winds is proud to receive the development rights of this additional offshore wind capacity, reaching a 14.5GW portfolio.
“With more than 10-year experience from development and financing to operation as a pioneer in floating technology as well as successfully fast delivering bottom fixed offshore wind projects, we are confident in our ability to deliver those commercial scale floating projects and are excited to join forces once again with our long-term partner Mainstream Renewable Power.
“Both projects awarded will bring major benefits to Shetland and Scotland, as well as important contribution to Net Zero.”