OSLO, Norway, Dec. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A £235 million
early investment package to support the renewable energy supply
chain in Scotland has been
announced by Ocean Winds and Aker Offshore Wind as part of their
proposal to transform the country into a green industrial
powerhouse.
The financial package is included in the joint Ocean Winds and
Aker Offshore Wind ScotWind bids which would build supply chain
capability many years ahead of the introduction of new floating
offshore wind fields in Scotland's
deep waters.
By creating 'first mover advantage', Aker Offshore Wind believes
Scotland can become one of the
first countries in the world to introduce floating wind at an
industrial scale. The early investment package of £235 million for
every successful bid would help deliver the 'just transition' from
fossil fuel industries by generating thousands of new jobs and
economic opportunities, as well as enabling Scotland to drive down the costs of clean
energy through industrialization of new technology.
Floating offshore wind is the latest advent in renewable energy,
involving giant turbines much further away from land than at
present. Around 80 per cent of the world's wind resources are in
waters deeper than 60 metres and are unsuitable for traditional
fixed foundations, with floating turbines opening up major new
energy resources.
As part of a consortium, Aker Offshore Wind has submitted
proposals for up to three sites in the Outer Moray Firth with the
possibility of generating a combined 6GW of wind energy in total as
part of the ScotWind leasing programme, with associated total spend
of up to £15 billion for all three sites.
Through direct work and supply chain opportunities, each
proposal is estimated to generate more than 5,000 jobs and 200
apprenticeships in Scotland across
all project stages. There would also be extensive investment in
Scotland's existing ports and
harbours, as well as innovative new subsea technology – a
particularly key capability of our existing Scottish supply
chain.
More than 30 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) are now in
place across the supply chain in support of the bids and the early
action needed. There is a commitment to 60 per cent local supply
chain content from the UK, of which 40 per cent minimum content
will come from Scotland.
The £235 million of early enabling investment also includes
feasibility, benchmark, and implementation studies with selected
fabricators seeking to establish or upgrade facilities in
Scotland, leveraging Scottish
supply chain's competitive advantages through innovation, workforce
development, diversity, and skills transition initiatives, and
capital investment costs for Scottish infrastructure facilities.
This will deliver globally-competitive facilities in Scotland for the fabrication and assembly of
floating platforms.
An immersive virtual reality design of a fabrication yard has
already been developed in conjunction with the National
Manufacturing Institute Scotland at the University of Strathclyde as part of our early
investment process.
Aker Offshore Wind and its partners can move at speed to support
the development of the Scottish supply chain because the companies
have already identified which technology they plan to use at
floating offshore wind sites: the 'WindFloat' developed by
Principle Power Inc (PPI) and which has already been in operation
for over 10 years with local fabrication as part of its
delivery.
Separately, Aker Offshore Wind is the lead industry partner in a
major project to develop wind turbine blade recycling in
Britain for the first time, backed
by a £2 million UK Government grant.
"Building on our 180-year industrial heritage, we know early
investment is needed if we want Scottish capability to be built
ahead of the project execution phase when globally competitive
tenders are sought," said Sian
Lloyd-Rees, Managing Director of Aker Offshore Wind UK.
"Scotland can be one of the first
countries to develop floating wind at scale.
"If we focus on what our supply chain needs and provide it now,
we can capture first mover advantage for our supply chain in a
number of different technologies and solutions. That's why we are
committed to an enabling investment fund of £235 million.
"A just transition requires we put the effort in early to work
out what a healthy and growing supply chain needs. This is the
cornerstone for the just transition ambition of Scotland and will ensure we deliver clean
energy affordably."
More information can be found at www.scotwind.energy and in
"Floating Offshore Wind: delivering a Green Industrial Revolution
for Scotland - a manifesto".
For further information, please contact:
Maria Lanza Knudsen, media
contact, +47 48 44 24 26, maria.knudsen@akeroffshorewind.com
Christian Yggeseth, investor contact, +47 915 10 000,
christian.yggeseth@akerhorizons.com
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