West of Orkney Windfarm outlines supply chain commitments

The West of Orkney Windfarm today published further information on its commitments to developing the offshore wind supply chain across Scotland and the rest of the UK.

In January, the joint venture between specialist offshore wind business Corio Generation, TotalEnergies, and Scottish offshore wind developer RIDG secured rights in the Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind leasing round to develop a two-gigawatt windfarm 30km off the west coast of Orkney – known as the West of Orkney Windfarm.

Their Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) Outlook document was submitted to the Crown Estate Scotland as part of the application process.
The partners have now formally signed their Option to Lease Agreement with CES and the Outlook document has been made public.

The 21-page publication – available to download here – outlines the project partners’ supply chain alignment model and re-affirms their commitment to a £105 million project-level supply chain investment programme that will be enhanced to £140 million through match funding from third parties. This programme of investment will begin this year and run until the project reaches Final Investment Decision.

Funds will be allocated across a range of initiatives, including:

• Over £9 million of direct support for the enhancement of local ports and harbour infrastructure in the north of Scotland.
• Funding design and delivery studies to allow suppliers to plan investment in additional capability and capacity, and position themselves competitively against the project’s procurement requirements.
• A bespoke programme with EMEC to support innovation and cost reduction in areas specific to the West of Orkney Windfarm.
• A skills development programme over the next five years to support long term employment opportunities in the wind sector and to support the project’s ambition to achieve a 50:50 gender balance across all operations from first generation.
• £33.5 million to a Supply Chain and Infrastructure Investment Fund, that will be used to leverage match funding from third parties and deliver a significant change in Scottish and UK supply chain preparedness.

The document also details the partners’ commitment to spend a minimum £932 million in Scotland during development, construction and the first six years of operations, underpinned by a target of 60 percent UK content (40 percent in Scotland and 20 percent in the rest of the UK), measured over the life of the project.

Commenting on the Outlook report West of Orkney Windfarm Project Director Stephen Kerr says:

“From the outset our ambition has been to build a world-leading offshore wind farm where we strive to maximise the benefits to people and businesses across Caithness and Orkney, and more widely throughout Scotland and the UK.

“To date this has included building strong relationships with individuals and organisations across Scotland with a focus on early supplier collaboration, local port investments, and skills development to ensure everyone has the best possible chance to compete for and win work.

“The activities outlined in the Outlook report affirm our commitment to the communities in which we work and our ambition to maximise the long-term economic benefits which we believe this project will bring.”

The consortium has already undertaken extensive site surveys and has a finalised grid connection agreement with National Grid. Last month they submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Report to Marine Scotland, Orkney Islands Council and The Highland Council detailing all of the studies and surveys they will undertake in the years ahead.

The West of Orkney Windfarm is also investigating the potential to provide power to a large-scale hydrogen hub on Orkney, alongside Repsol Sinopec and Uniper. The benefits the Flotta Hydrogen Hub could bring to Scotland, by positioning it at the leading edge of the global hydrogen economy, are not within the scope of the SCDS Outlook document, but are likely to be significant should this project be realised.