Buchan Offshore Wind, a global offshore wind consortium and the winner of a 1GW ScotWind lease, has joined the board of The PowerHouse, the skills and innovation vehicle of the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport (ICF). The partnership between Buchan Offshore Wind and The PowerHouse aims to accelerate the development of locally built floating wind in Scotland and to bring significant levels of employment to Scotland and the Highlands.
The Buchan Offshore Wind Consortium comprises three highly experienced and complementary leaders: BayWa r.e., Belgian developer Elicio, and BW Ideol, with a demonstrated commitment to accelerating the development of locally built floating wind. Through Crown Estate Scotland's latest ScotWind leasing round, the consortium secured the rights to develop the floating Buchan Offshore Wind Farm, located 75km north-east of Fraserburgh, with a capacity of around 1GW, enough to power over 800,000 homes.
By joining The PowerHouse board, Buchan Offshore Wind demonstrates its commitment to delivering skills for people across the region, ensuring they are ready for the opportunities to come, as well as to developing research and technology that will accelerate the floating offshore wind sector. The partnership becomes the second wind consortium to join the board of The PowerHouse in recent weeks, following in the footsteps of Stromar Offshore Wind, a consortium comprising of Renantis, BlueFloat Energy and Orsted.
The project director for Buchan Offshore Wind, Alasdair MacLeod, said, “We are passionate about harnessing our combined experience to develop and deliver one of the world's largest floating offshore wind farms off the north-east coast of Scotland. We see this development as a significant opportunity to maximise the output of clean, green renewable power, while strengthening the Scottish supply chain and supporting organisations, including the recently awarded Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport.”
Director of The PowerHouse, Bob Buskie, added, “ICF is delighted that Buchan Offshore Wind is supporting the further development of regional skills and expertise by joining the board of The PowerHouse. With the experience that the alliance of BayWa.r.e, BW Ideol and Elicio bring, they will play a crucial role in the development of our plans.”
The partnership between Buchan Offshore Wind and The PowerHouse marks an exciting new phase in Scotland's renewable energy landscape, bringing together the expertise and resources needed to accelerate the development of floating offshore wind and create sustainable employment opportunities in the region.
