Haventus, owner of the under-construction Ardersier Energy Transition Facility, located near Inverness, Scotland, has been selected by Cerulean Winds, the lead developer of 3GW+ UK floating offshore wind, as its chosen deployment port.
Ardersier Energy Transition Facility, which has secured £400million of funding, including a £100million credit facility from the UK National Wealth Fund & Scottish National Investment Bank, will be Scotland’s largest offshore wind facility on the North Sea coast. Cerulean’s commitment to using the facility marks a major step toward realising the UK and Scottish governments’ vision of creating a world-leading floating offshore wind (FLOW) industrial base.
By 2050, FLOW could contribute more than £47 billion to the UK economy and employ 100,000 people. Ardersier will support achieving these targets by deploying and servicing offshore wind installations, providing green jobs and establishing a UK supply chain to rival international competitors.
The Cerulean alliance’s first project will be the Aspen development, a 1GW wind farm in the Central North Sea approximately 100km from shore, that is targeting first power between 2028-29. The project is designed to enable Scotland’s supply chain and direct more than £1 billion of investment in FLOW manufacturing and service support in the country, with the Ardersier Energy Transition Facility acting as a strategic hub. This early investment will help establish the industrial foundation needed to maximise domestic economic benefits from ScotWind’s planned buildout from 2030.
Lewis Gillies, CEO of Haventus, said: “Ardersier Energy Transition Facility will be operational by late 2025 and will be capable of supporting the deployment of multiple gigawatt-scale offshore wind projects. We are delighted that Cerulean Winds has selected Ardersier as its chosen facility, strengthening our intent to increase green jobs in Scotland, achieve economic growth and support oil and gas operators in the North Sea to rapidly decarbonise their operations.”
Dan Jackson, Founding Director of Cerulean Winds, said: “This is an important moment for the future of the UK’s floating offshore wind industry. The UK and Scottish Governments have been very supportive, however more is needed. We must act now to capture the domestic economic benefits. If too slow, the building and maintenance of this new technology will become entrenched in established international supply chains before the bow wave of the ScotWind projects even begin, with supply chains rapidly consolidating around early-mover regions in the North Sea and Asia.”
Cerulean Winds, which has unique experience in floating infrastructure from the oil and gas sector, believes FLOW has a key role to play in addressing the Labour government’s industrial growth plan. Including, the establishment of industrial-scale port clusters and a FLOW manufacturing supply chain, and by contributing to the UK’s clean energy pipeline.
It is the intent that Ardersier will become the UK’s first FLOW manufacturing hub, creating hundreds of jobs and establishing a vital industrial base. From here, developers will produce and service floating foundations, anchoring this critical supply chain in Britain. The Cerulean alliance model with a clear intent to build out the Scottish supply chain creates a complete industrial ecosystem that ensures long-term economic benefits stay in Britain.