Offshore floating wind developers welcome Opportunity Cromarty Firth Green Freeport win

Ørsted, Renantis and BlueFloat Energy have welcomed the award of Green Freeport status to Opportunity Cromarty Firth (OCF).

The three companies, who were the first developers to become members of OCF in 2022, are developing the Stromar floating offshore wind project off the north-east coast of Scotland.  A partnership between BlueFloat Energy and Renantis is also developing the Broadshore and Bellrock floating wind projects.

Nicholas Ritchie, Stromar Project Director, said: “The awarding of Green Freeport status to Opportunity Cromarty Firth is fantastic news, both for the Highlands and for the future of Scotland as a centre of global excellence for floating offshore wind.”

Tom Hudson, Broadshore Project Director, said: “The Cromarty Firth is a tremendous location with a great track record in fabrication and manufacturing.  It also has the space and facilities to assemble floating offshore wind farms at scale and we are very excited about the benefits Green Freeport status will bring to the area.”

David Robertson, Bellrock Project Director, said: “We are greatly looking forward to continuing our partnership with OCF and delivering projects which boost the local supply chain, provide quality jobs and really benefit the North of Scotland.”

The Stromar floating wind project will be located off the coast of Caithness, around 50 km east of Wick and has a seabed lease agreed with Crown Estate Scotland for up to 1GW.

Situated off the coast east of Aberdeen, the Bellrock floating wind project has a seabed lease agreed with Crown Estate Scotland (CES) for up to 1.2 GW.  Broadshore will be north of Fraserburgh and originally had a seabed lease agreed for up to 500 MW, now increased to 900 MW after the plans for the turbine layout were reworked using larger, more efficient wind turbines.

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