Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn, two European developers and owners of offshore wind projects, have submitted a Scoping Report for Cenos floating offshore windfarm to Marine Scotland, positioning the project to become one of the world’s largest floating wind farms once operational. The Scoping report presents in detail the nature and purpose of the project and its possible effects on the environment, marking the first step of the project’s consenting process.
Wind turbine. Image Credit: Flotation Energy
Located 200km offshore in the UK Central North Sea, the Cenos floating offshore wind farm will have up to 1.4 GW of installed renewable capacity and is on track to deliver first power in 2028. Cenos will be connected to the UK grid.
As a result of the renewable power and grid-connection supplied through Cenos, oil and gas platforms in the surrounding areas will transition to using renewable energy. In addition, 5.5GWh of power from the project is expected to be supplied to the UK grid annually, providing consumers with renewable electricity. Overall, the Cenos project is estimated to cut emissions by over two million tonnes of carbon each year while supporting the commercialisation of floating offshore wind technology.
Cenos will therefore support The North Sea Transition Deal’s goal to halve offshore emissions by 2030, as well as making a significant contribution to meeting Scotland’s 2045 Net Zero target.
Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn are also partnering on the Green Volt floating offshore wind project. The developers have submitted leasing applications for both Cenos and Green Volt as part of the Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round. The Crown Estate is expected to announce awards in Q2 this year.
Visit the recently launched Cenos website to learn more about the project: www.cenosoffshorewind.com
Lord Nicol Stephen, CEO & Co-founder of Flotation Energy, said:
"Submission of the Cenos scoping report keeps us on track to deliver renewable power to many of the oil and gas platforms in the central North Sea as early as 2028."
"Cenos will make a significant contribution to Scotland's net zero target, removing two million tonnes of carbon from our energy system each year. The scale of the project is huge. It will deliver billions of pounds of new infrastructure investment and help create thousands of local jobs, helping to make the energy transition a reality."
Olav Hetland, CEO of Vårgrønn, said:
“Across Europe, we are seeing a race to scale floating windfarms and Cenos is ready to be a frontrunner in delivering commercial-scale floating wind power.
Our project is designed to deliver first power as soon as possible to help meet the decarbonisation goals of the UK oil and gas sector while simultaneously kick-starting the development of a world-leading local supply chain for floating offshore wind centred on the North Sea.”