Floating Energy Allyance commits to local foundations production in ScotWind bid

Floating Energy Allyance (FEA), one of the bidders in the ScotWind offshore wind leasing round, has committed to local production of turbine foundations and said its proposals could create 3,900 Scottish jobs.

FEA is a partnership between German renewable energy company BayWa re, Belgian offshore wind developer Elicio and floating wind technology developer BW Ideol. It is competing for rights to develop offshore wind projects in Scotland under the Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind round, which closed on July 16.

If successful, the team plans to manufacture the floating concrete foundations at a port site in Scotland. This would account for most of the 3,900 jobs that a commercial-scale floating wind project by FEA is expected to create at the peak of manufacturing and construction, based on estimates by consultancy Biggar Economics.

The announcement comes ahead of the Floating Offshore Wind 2021 conference in Aberdeen on Wednesday.

Ocean Winds, the offshore wind joint venture of EDP Renovaveis SA and Engie SA, and Norway’s Aker Offshore Wind AS also said today they have submitted joint bids to develop 6 GW of floating offshore wind projects as part of the ScotWind round.

The leasing round aims to enable the construction of up to 10 GW of new offshore wind farms.

“We are under no illusions – we know that ScotWind is an incredibly competitive process, with 74 bids for 15 sites, reflecting the global interest in developing projects here in Scotland,” noted Elicio chief executive Alain Janssens.

ScotWind winners will be announced in early 2022.

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