The world’s biggest floating wind farm has been given the go-ahead off the Aberdeen coast. The £3 billion floating offshore wind project from developers Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn has been granted offshore planning approval.

The project titled Green Volt, has now received all its planning approvals and remains on track to be the first commercial-scale offshore windfarm in Europe after announcing receiving onshore content earlier this April. Green Volt was one of six newly approved renewable projects.

Reducing carbon emissions

As part of Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas (INTOG) leasing round, the project will deliver renewable electricity to oil and gas platforms, replacing existing natural gas and diesel power generation, along with electricity to the UK grid. Consisting of 35 floating wind turbines, the project with deliver up to 560MW of renewable energy capacity with an ambition to reduce carbon emissions by 1 Mtonne per annum.

Sir Ian Wood, Chair of ETZ Ltd, said: “The awarding of consent for the Green Volt INTOG project is a massive boost for Scotland’s ambition to be a global leader in floating offshore wind. This decision will unlock around £3 billion of investment, generate hundreds of jobs and will effectively result in Europe’s first commercial scale floating wind development.”

Beatrice offshore Windfarm, Photo by Leigh Grant for Marine Directorate

As part of the North Sea Transition Deal, oil and gas operators have agreed to deliver 50% reduction in offshore greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. A new emission reduction plan published by North Sea Transition Authority in March 2024 places electrification of offshore platforms at the centre of emissions reductions. 

As Green Volt moves forward with its development, the project remains committed to engaging with on and offshore stakeholders, upholding rigorous environmental stewardship practices. Green Volt is 50% owned by Flotation Energy and 50% by Vårgrønn, which is a joint venture between Plenitude (Eni) and HitecVision.

The other projects are:

• Highland Wind – Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm (offshore wind)
• Simply Blue Energy (Orkney) – CorPower wave energy converters (wave energy)
• Orbital – Orbital Eday 3 and Orbital Eday 4 (two tidal energy projects)
• Nova – OCEANSTAR and SEASTAR (two tidal energy projects)
• Magallanes Renovables – Magallanes ATIR platforms (tidal energy)

Earlier this year, the Crown Estate published the Celtic Sea Blueprint report that found “delivery of a Celtic Sea 4.5GW programme will deliver into the UK £1.4 bn GVA and an average of 5,300 jobs through the development of necessary port infrastructure and the supply of critical components and vessel needs”.

Further information about the Green Volt project can be found here.