(CNB) SCOTWIND PROPOSED CAPACITY HITS 24.8 GW

Offshore wind turbines in waters near Aberdeen, Scotland - Gannet77 | E+ | Getty Images

The Scottish offshore wind sector received a boost this week after a program to lease areas of Scotland’s seabed for wind farm developments raised just under £700 million (around $952 million).

According to Crown Estate Scotland — a public corporation which manages the country’s coastline and seabed — 74 lease applications were made, and 17 were successful.

The program, dubbed ScotWind, raised £699.2 million, or around $951 million. Crown Estate Scotland said the fees would be “passed to the Scottish Government for public spending.”

The capacity of the proposed facilities amounts to 24,826 megawatts. To put that figure into some sort of context, trade association RenewableUK says the U.K.’s operational capacity for offshore wind stands at just over 10,463 MW. Capacity refers to “the amount of electricity a generator can produce when it’s running at full blast,” according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Successful applicants include BP Alternative Energy Investments, SSE Renewables, Vattenfall, ScottishPower Renewables and Shell.

“The variety and scale of the projects that will progress onto the next stages shows both the remarkable progress of the offshore wind sector, and a clear sign that Scotland is set to be a major hub for the further development of this technology in the years to come,” Simon Hodge, Crown Estate Scotland’s chief executive, said in a statement Monday. CNBC - link - Anmar Frangoul - link - more like this (Scotland) - link - more like this - link

(RIG) SCOTWIND AWARDS 5 GW TO SHELL/SCOTTISHPOWER

Shell and ScottishPower have secured joint offers for seabed rights to develop large-scale floating wind farms as part of Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind leasing.

The partners have won two sites representing a total of 5 GW off the east and north-east coast of Scotland.

The new wind farms will be delivered through two joint ventures called MarramWind and CampionWind. They bring together ScottishPower’s and Shell’s decades of experience working offshore and significant presence in Scotland, as well as their strong innovation capabilities for delivering world-class offshore energy projects.

“Shell and ScottishPower can now look forward to generating floating wind power at significant scale in the UK to accelerate the country’s transition towards net-zero,” Wael Sawan, Integrated Gas and Renewables and Energy Solutions Director at Shell, said.

“Floating wind plays to our strengths in deeper offshore projects, and we are well placed to help advance the wider take-up of this important clean energy source. Renewable electricity will play an increasingly important role in our customer-focused strategy, as we provide more low-carbon products and services customers need for their journey to net-zero,” he added.

Once built, MarramWind’s and CampionWind’s floating wind projects could accommodate a total generation capacity of around 3 GW and 2 GW, respectively, bringing clean energy to power the equivalent of 6 million homes in Scotland. This is more than double the number of homes in Scotland today.

The joint ventures have already started initial development planning and will continue to work at pace towards final investment decisions.

“Offshore wind is set to become the backbone of the UK’s energy mix and will do the heavy lifting as we ramp up the production of clean electricity on the journey to net-zero. Our ScotWind projects will make the best use of our fantastic natural resources to help power the UK’s transition from fossil fuels to renewables and a better future, quicker,” Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower, claimed. Rigzone - link - Bojan Lepic - link - Shell Wind Power - link - more like this (Scotland) - link - more like this - link

(GUA) SCOTTISH WATERS AUCTION HOPING FOR 10GW

The winning bids – and the prices paid – are expected to be announced at 10am today. Photograph: Xinhua/Alamy

Scotland’s largest-ever auction of permits to construct offshore windfarms is expected to raise up to £860m when the results are announced today.

Crown Estate Scotland, which is running the auction, hopes that windfarms with as much as 10 gigawatts of new generating capacity will be built over the next decade, effectively doubling the amount of electricity generated in Scottish waters in a transition which has the potential to create tens of thousands of jobs.

The programme, known as ScotWind, has attracted frenzied interest from domestic and international bidders, and could set new records for values placed on the plots of seabed being leased for turbines.

Scotland’s largest-ever auction of permits to construct offshore windfarms is expected to raise up to £860m when the results are announced on Monday.

Crown Estate Scotland, which is running the auction, hopes that windfarms with as much as 10 gigawatts of new generating capacity will be built over the next decade, effectively doubling the amount of electricity generated in Scottish waters in a transition which has the potential to create tens of thousands of jobs.

The programme, known as ScotWind, has attracted frenzied interest from domestic and international bidders, and could set new records for values placed on the plots of seabed being leased for turbines. The Guardian - link - Julia Kollewe - link - more like this (Scotland) - link - more like this - link