Vargronn, Flotation propose 1.4-GW floating wind farm to green oil, gas

Norwegian offshore wind company Vargronn and Scotland’s Flotation Energy have lodged a scoping report to Marine Scotland for an up to 1.4-GW floating offshore wind project in the UK Central North Sea.

The project, called Cenos, is designed to decarbonise offshore oil and gas platforms and could deliver power as early as 2028, at which point it would be one the world’s largest floating wind farms.

The filing of the scoping report, announced by Vargronn on Wednesday, is the first consenting process.

Vargronn said that together with its partner Flotation Energy it has submitted leasing applications for Cenos and another floating offshore wind project called Green Volt in the Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round. Awards are expected to be announced in the second quarter of 2023.

The companies teamed up to deploy offshore wind energy for the decarbonisation of oil and gas installations in the North Sea in September last year. Vargronn is a joint venture between Eni’s Plenitude and the Norwegian energy investor HitecVision.

The Cenos project is planned to be located 200 km (124 miles) offshore and to be connected to the UK grid. It will thus decarbonise oil and gas platforms by providing them with renewable power and a grid connection, and will also supply 5.5 TWh to the grid annually.

“Across Europe, we are seeing a race to scale floating wind farms and Cenos is ready to be a frontrunner in delivering commercial-scale floating wind power,” said Vargronn chief executive Olav Hetland.

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