Scottish seabed landlord Crown Estate Scotland has booked 19 entries for its pioneering Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round to tap floating wind to help decarbonise oil & gas production.
The round is the first in the world to support directly linking offshore wind with hydrocarbons infrastructure, as well as offering a route for sub-100MW projects that can help foster innovation in areas such as green hydrogen production.
Crown Estate Scotland said of the 19 entries, 10 related to the innovation element while nine were for targeted oil & gas. “This level of interest from industry demonstrates significant support for this exciting new opportunity,” it claimed.
The bidders are not named, but the likes of floating wind pioneer Cerulean Winds, Equinor, Eni-backed Vargronn, Simply Blue and sector giant Orsted are among those to declare interest or firm plans to bid over recent months.
Crown Estate Scotland will now assess the applications and expects to announce the winners by the end of April next year.
The leasing round, which was launched with a view to awarding leases for about 4.5GW, is designed to help meet the emissions reduction targets agreed last year between the UK government and industry in the so-called North Sea Transition Deal, by boosting investment in deepwater offshore wind technology.
INTOG adds to Scotland’s already formidable status as a global offshore wind pioneer through its giant ScotWind round that has awarded almost 28GW of floating and fixed-bottom leasing.
