Plan for $25bn North Sea 'ring main' to power oil & gas with floating wind
Biggest winner of Scottish INTOG seabed leasing round claims transmission network would be among UK's largest ever infrastructure projects
Plans for a £20bn ($25bn) floating wind-powered North Sea 'ring main' transmission network have been unveiled by the biggest winner in Scotland’s pioneering auction to electrify offshore oil & gas production using renewables.
Cerulean Winds and development partner Frontier Power claimed their North Sea Renewables Grid (NSRG) in the Central North Sea could be one of the UK’s largest ever infrastructure projects, offering a ‘plug-in’ option for hydrocarbons.
With 3GW across three sites, Cerulean was the largest single winner in the INTOG leasing round held by Crown Estate Scotland to spur North Sea green electrification.
Phase One of the plan will target brownfield oil & gas users but the NSRG could later export power to the UK and European grids, said the developer.
Cerulean and Frontier said they have assembled a heavyweight team of partners including wind turbine giant Siemens Gamesa, its parent group Siemens Energy and contractors DEME and Worley.
Cerulean founding director Dan Jackson said: “The oil and gas sector is wrestling with the challenges of meeting the North Sea Transition Deal emissions reduction targets whilst supporting UK energy security. We recognise that to achieve meaningful reductions at the pace required, a reliable basin-wide approach is needed that they can plug into when they are ready to for affordable power.”
Cerulean and Frontier Power are aiming to produce first power in 2028, said Jackson.