Ørsted acquires majority stake in Scottish floating wind development project

Ørsted, the world leader in offshore wind, has acquired a majority stake in the 100 MW Salamander floating offshore wind development project on the Scottish coast, entering a joint venture (JV) partnership with Simply Blue Group, a leading Irish blue economy developer in floating offshore wind, wave energy and low-impact aquaculture. Ørsted will own an 80% stake in the project as Simply Blue Group’s newest JV partner on the project, alongside minority JV partner, Subsea 7.

Salamander is intended to be progressed through the innovation track of Crown Estate Scotland’s forthcoming Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round later this year. Established by Simply Blue Group, the project is designed as a stepping-stone for floating wind technology, providing an opportunity for supply chain businesses to gear up for commercial scale floating wind opportunities and help the technology become cost competitive as early as possible. The Salamander project follows on from other such projects Simply Blue Group is developing with major energy operators around Ireland and in Wales.

Martin Neubert, Group Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer at Ørsted, said: “I’m pleased that we have agreed with Simply Blue to become a partner on this promising project which further expands Ørsted’s engagement in floating offshore wind and will provide a lot of learnings that we can apply on Scotwind and other floating wind projects as the technology transitions from demo projects to utility scale. Ørsted has been driving the commercialisation of bottom-fixed offshore wind for 30 years, and during the next decade we want to help make floating offshore wind similarly successful through projects such as this one.”

Sam Roch-Perks, CEO of Simply Blue Group said: “We are delighted that Ørsted is joining with Simply Blue Group and Subsea 7 to develop the Salamander project.  Ørsted is a leading player in renewable energy and brings considerable expertise to the prestigious Salamander project. As a leading floating wind developer, Simply Blue Group wants to contribute to the development of the Scottish Offshore wind market and its supply chain. Scotland is one of the best locations on the planet for the development of floating wind projects and we look forward to the collaboration with Ørsted on this exciting and important project.”

Duncan Clark, Head of Region UK for Ørsted said:

“Today’s announcement reaffirms Ørsted’s commitment to floating offshore wind, a developing technology which has an exciting future in Scotland and we look forward to working with Simply Blue Group and Subsea 7 to realise the potential of this exciting project.

“Developing projects of the type and scale of Salamander will provide a smooth transition to delivering utility scale floating offshore wind projects. It will support the cost reduction and learning journey that will underpin the commercial deployment of floating offshore wind, whilst developing the infrastructure, supply chain, jobs and skills that will help Scotland cement its place as a world leader in floating offshore wind as the industry grows in the coming decades.”

Subsea 7, a global leader in the delivery of offshore projects and services for the evolving energy industry has already joined the project as a joint venture partner. Subsea 7 brings its proven track record in delivering offshore energy projects, together with the company’s expertise and detailed knowledge of the Scottish supply chain.

John Evans, CEO of Subsea 7 said: “The intention from the outset was to establish Salamander as a project that would be of interest to major players in offshore renewable energy. The project will be a key step towards fulfilling the ambitions for floating wind offshore Scotland, which has an important role to play in the Energy Transition and the journey to Net Zero. We are pleased to have Ørsted join as the majority partner and look forward to working together in pursuing this exciting opportunity.”

Green Giraffe acted as advisor to Simply Blue Group and Subsea 7 on the Salamander joint venture with Ørsted.

Image courtesy of Ørsted