Moray West offshore wind farm scheme secures £2 billion investment
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The Moray West offshore wind farm has taken a major step forward after raising the £2 billion required to begin move towards construction.
The development by Ocean Winds, a 50-50 joint venture owned by EDP Renewables and ENGIE, has reached "financial close".
The status means it can now move to secure the remaining elements of supply chain activity in preparation for offshore installation works in later 2023.
The 882MW Moray West scheme sits 22km from the Caithness coast and will be made up of 60 turbines. Its operations and maintenance base will be in Buckie.
Ocean Winds also owns and operates the 950MW Moray East wind farm, which is sited alongside Beatrice's 84 turbines.
A further 2GW of power from up to 150 turbines is proposed at the nearby Caledonia site, another Ocean Winds project .
Moray West is the first UK offshore wind farm to rely in majority on corporate power purchase agreements (CPPAs) for the commercialisation of its output. CPPAs were signed with long-term strategic partners for more than 50 per cent of the project’s output.
The CPPAs were originated in partnership with ENGIE and represent the largest contracts of their kind implemented in the UK market to date.
A Contract for Difference (CfD) was secured for a third of the installed capacity in the UK Allocation Round 4 (AR4) to commercialise the remainder of the project’s output. Moray West is the first CfD AR4 offshore project to reach financial close.
Adam Morrison, country manager for Ocean Winds in the UK, said: “We are delighted to have reached this important milestone following the shareholders’ early support for a bold development strategy. Reaching financial close demonstrates the confidence that the financial markets have in the strength of the project and its delivery partners.
"The project team can now focus their combined efforts and expertise to deliver the project on time. In Scotland the significant economic successes include the use of the key ports of Invergordon and Nigg, together with our long-term commitment to investing in Buckie as the operations and maintenance base.”
The Moray West project is set to be generating full power by 2025. Ocean Winds says that it remains on track to deliver low-cost renewable energy, supporting the UK and Scottish renewable energy targets and providing the equivalent of 1.33 million households a year with access to long-term, low-cost, low-carbon electricity.
Grzegorz Gorski, chief operating officer for Ocean Winds, said: “Ocean Winds is very proud to keep on delivering on its commercial scale projects – Moray West representing the second secured project finance in our portfolio of projects for the year 2023, after the îles d’Yeu Noirmoutier offshore wind farm in France.
"We now have close to 1.5GW of offshore wind energy in construction in the world, in addition to our 1.5GW already operating. Building on our local engagement, we are advancing rapidly globally to provide clean energy to consumers and to companies, accompanying them in their energy transition.”
