TetraSub technology hailed as 'ideal fit' for floating wind farm off Dounreay
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The developers of a wind farm off the north coast of Caithness say their choice of floating technology "ticks all the boxes".
Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm (PFOWF) announced today that it has selected Stiesdal Offshore’s TetraSub, describing it as "an ideal fit" for the 100MW project.
It will see seven turbines up to 300m high to their blade tips being built around 7.5km offshore from Dounreay.
PFOWF is being developed by Highland Wind Limited, which is majority owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) through one of its funds, and is due to be operational in 2026.
The Tetra concept is the world’s first fully industrialised floating offshore technology offering a lightweight and cost-effective floating foundation made up of factory-made modules.
No manufacturing takes place at the quayside – instead the ready-made modules are assembled in ports using existing infrastructure to form a complete foundation.
The process is said to reduce both manufacturing hours and transportation costs.
Speaking ahead of this week's Floating Offshore Wind UK 2022 conference in Aberdeen, PFOWF project director Richard Copeland said: “The objectives of Pentland are to demonstrate new floating wind technologies which will enable industrialisation, develop local supply chains and reduce costs, allowing deployment of floating offshore wind in the UK and globally at scale.
"For us, the Stiesdal Offshore TetraSub concept ticks all of these boxes.”
Peder Riis Nickelsen, CEO at Stiesdal Offshore, said: “We are delighted that the TetraSub technology has been selected by PFOWF.
"This project will support us to meet market demands for low-cost and fast deployment of floating wind technology, advancing the next generation of floating offshore wind turbines with capacity of 14MW and more.
"We look forward to working with the Pentland team to deliver this exciting world-leading development.”
Stiesdal Offshore has already been working to develop the Scottish offshore wind supply chain. In addition, PFOWF has been working with Scottish Enterprise via its Scottish Development International and Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service teams and the DeepWind offshore wind cluster to introduce Scottish companies to supply chain opportunities.
Mr Copeland added: “Stiesdal’s previous work is already providing valuable lessons for industry and Pentland through initiatives such as its tank testing at University of Edinburgh’s world-leading FloWave research facility. The results of this testing confirmed the technology as one which was an ideal fit for the needs of the project.”
Suzanne Sosna, director of economic opportunities and climate at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Floating offshore wind presents huge potential, not only for Scotland’s economy but for companies the length and breadth of the country to take advantage of significant manufacturing and supply chain opportunities.
“Scottish Enterprise continues to support the Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm, and this announcement marks an important milestone for the project’s development.
“As the ScotWind leasing announcement earlier this year demonstrated, Scotland can lead the way in floating offshore wind.
"We look forward to working with developers, manufacturers and industry partners to maximise future opportunities and showcase Scotland’s unique global strengths in this sector.”
PFOWF recently submitted its offshore consent application to Marine Scotland. Plans have also been lodged with Highland Council.
PFOWF is among the exhibitors at Floating Offshore Wind 2022, organised by Scottish Renewables and RenewableUK and taking place in Aberdeen on Wednesday and Thursday.
