Ocean Winds to milk 2 GW out of Caledonia ScotWind site

The Ocean Winds joint venture (JV) on Tuesday announced plans to add a whole gigawatt to its 1-GW Caledonia offshore wind project in Scottish waters to make the most of the seabed area it won in the ScotWind tender earlier this year.

The 50/50 JV of utilities EDP Renewables (ELI:EDPR) and Engie SA (EPA:ENGI) in January secured a bid on a 440-sq-km (169.9 sq miles) seabed area known as NE4 in the outer Moray Firth, gaining rights to develop 1 GW of offshore wind power there.

On Tuesday, Ocean Winds said that it will now target 2 GW for the Caledonia offshore wind farm, seeking to maximise its developable area.

“The water is shallow enough to support fixed-foundations, the distance from shore is short enough to support AC instead of DC transmission, yet the wind resource is great enough to deliver high output and therefore low cost power,” said Mark Baxter, project director for Caledonia Offshore Wind Farm.

The Caledonia project company will adjust its supply chain commitments to reflect the planned 2-GW target, the press release reads. Consultation of the project will start with the publication of the offshore scoping report in the third quarter of 2022. Offshore survey campaigns are due to start shortly, Ocean Winds said, adding that it plans to file for consent in 2024.

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