BW Offshore Reveals it Submitted Bids for Scottish Offshore Wind Lease
The prospects of lucrative contacts from Scotland’s bidding for the massive offshore wind leases attracted a broad range of proposals including several new entrants seeking new opportunities in the emerging offshore wind industry. BW Offshore, an operator of FPSOs appears to be among the more unique bidders among the 74 applications that were submitted this summer to the Crown Estate.
BW Offshore revealed that in partnership with the U.S. renewable energy and utility company Invenergy, that they had submitted bids to develop up to 5.4 gigawatts of offshore wind as part of the first ScotWind leasing round.
“Together, we represent a unique blend of expertise and ambition to deliver the next phase of energy transition in Scotland, bringing substantial international project development experience and a strong track record for local value creation,” said Marco Beenen, CEO of BW Offshore. “ScotWind will play a critical role in delivering the nation’s offshore wind targets and our ambition is to be a central part of this journey, committed to working with Scotland’s supply chain to accelerate the energy transition.
The companies said that they proposed developing both floating and fixed foundation offshore wind projects off the Northeast Coast of Scotland. Together, Invenergy and BW Offshore noted that they are experienced in delivering multi-gigawatt, multi-billion-dollar energy projects, from inception to operation, with a focus on utilizing local supply chains and growing locally based project teams. Invenergy has also partnered with BW Group business BW LNG for the delivery of a $1.3 billion LNG-to-power Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) project in El Salvador.
“We are uniquely positioned to deliver innovative offshore wind infrastructure to Scotland through leveraging Invenergy’s decades of experience, expertise in leading complex projects to completion and network of strategic supplier relationships such as with GE Renewable Energy. This joint venture represents an important milestone in furthering our partnership with BW Offshore and Invenergy’s continued investment in Scotland and its clean energy future,” said Bryan Schueler, Senior Executive Vice President and Construction Business Leader at Invenergy.
At stake are 15 large leases for n area that could become one of the largest offshore wind farms. Early projections set the power generation capabilities at approximately 5.4 GW.
BW Offshore, however, will be up against stiff competition in the first round. The leaders in the offshore wind sector, including Iberdrola, Orsted, Ocean Winds, RWE, and Vattenfall, are all believed to have submitted applications. In addition, several large oil companies, including BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies, each announced that they were seeking leases as part of their efforts to expand their renewable energy operations.
The first awards are expected to be announced at the beginning of 2022.