The Salamander floating wind team has submitted an offshore consent application for its proposed 100MW project off Scotland.
This marks a “big step forward” in the delivery of the project, located 35km off the coast of Peterhead, stated the Salamander consortium comprising Orsted, Simply Blue Group and Subsea7.
The floating wind scheme was a successful Innovation bidder in Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round.
Subject to approval by Scottish Ministers, the offshore consent application will grant permission for the offshore elements of the project.
Crucially, Salamander will give the Scottish floating wind supply chain a “major early capability development opportunity”, supporting its scale-up ahead of the pipeline of schemes leased under the ScotWind and INTOG seabed leasing rounds.
The INTOG round awarded Exclusivity Agreements to two types of projects – small-scale innovation sites of less than 100MW, and larger arrays aiming to decarbonise oil and gas infrastructure.
Salamander bid for and won an Exclusivity Agreement under the innovation category.
The Salamander team has committed to focusing on Scottish content, in both construction and operation, to help de-risk the future pipeline and attract investment, maximising the benefit the country will see from the renewables transition.
Salamander project director Hugh Yendole said: “We have submitted a high-quality, thorough consent application and we’re committed to continue working with the necessary stakeholders throughout the approval process.
“Ambitious targets from both the Scottish and UK governments are not yet complemented by the infrastructure and supply chain required to deliver the floating wind pipeline in the UK.
“The timely delivery of Salamander is critical for industry in ensuring we provide opportunities to enable the UK supply chain – we want to encourage investment in local ports and indigenous technologies that will pave the way for a decarbonised future.”
Community engagement continues, with a third public consultation event planned to take place on 29 May at the Scottish Maritime Academy in Peterhead.
This event will present the whole project but focus on the details of the onshore consent application to be submitted later in 2024.