RWE is partnering with Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult to study the potential for Scottish businesses to produce commercial scale concrete foundations for floating wind projects.
The possible development of floating wind projects in Scotland puts a focus on the amount of local content that could be achieved: this report aims to set out what would be required to deliver this.
Manufacture of concrete foundations could have the biggest supply chain benefit in terms of Scottish content for floating wind projects. The study will be carried out by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence to understand the scale of this potential and how it might be unlocked.
“Floating Wind could play an important part of the growth in offshore wind and has the potential to unlock new offshore wind markets around the world. Concrete floating foundations have the potential to support Scottish projects and create local supply chain content, building on the country’s engineering legacy for a new generation of Scottish engineers.
“Achieving this will require collaboration between offshore wind developers like RWE, the Scottish Government and Scottish industry, which is why RWE has partnered with the ORE Catapult to investigate this important topic.”
Chris Willow, head of floating wind for RWE Renewables.
“This report will identify key manufacturing and fabrication methodologies and constituent materials required to produce concrete substructures. It will also assess the existing Scottish supply chain capability and capacity to deliver such concrete substructures into a utility scale floating offshore wind project.
“Floating wind will be required to exploit a significant proportion of the deeper Scottish waters identified by Marine Scotland’s latest Offshore Wind Sector Marine Plan, and hence play a key role in Scotland achieving its Net Zero target by 2045.”
ORE Catapult’s FOW CoE programme manager, Ralph Torr.
Fully funded by RWE and delivered as a discretionary project within the Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence, a summary of the work will be published upon completion of the research in mid-2021.
