SCOTLAND is windy; very windy indeed. That may on occasion be a problem for walkers, tourists and golfers, but it makes the country an ideal location for renewable power.
Offshore windfarms are a particularly efficient form of generation and a hugely ambitious new initiative seeks to significantly ramp up the country’s capacity in this area.
The ScotWind project is a new seabed leasing round for future offshore turbines initiated by Crown Estate Scotland. Total investment in this could potentially grow beyond £8 billion, with six million tons of carbon saved every year.
“The planning process for this has now finished and it identifies the areas the Scottish Government has deemed to be suitable for future offshore wind development,” explains Mandy Gloyer, who is leading the input of ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) into the ScotWind offering. Areas chosen as suitable for leasing are all around the Scottish coasts. “For the first time in the UK, they will provide the opportunity for deeper waterzones that will be suitable for floating technologies.”
Development and construction is likely to take place over the next decade with operations beginning around 2030 and ScottishPower is interested in being involved. “It’s our home market and we’re already well established in terms of onshore wind,” says Mandy. “We don’t yet have an offshore windfarm in Scottish waters, though we do have two operational windfarms down south, with more in the pipeline, and we are keen on having the opportunity to get involved here.”
ScotWind is the first seabed leasing round in Scotland for around a decade and it is hugely ambitious in its scope. It could create an additional 10 gigawatts of generation – enough to power every home in the country.
Deeper water locations tend to be very windy and so capable of generating large amounts of power. “There are very real benefits to considering these new potential locations for offshore wind,” Mandy explains. “The technology in this area is developing at a rapid rate and we have learned that once you start to deploy at scale, costs can fall significantly.”
Fixed turbines are more likely to be used in shallower waters, with the final choice of technology being left to the operators. “With the degree of generation ScotWind can offer, there is massive potential. There will be benefits for jobs, local businesses and the local supply chain.”
Mandy adds: “We really are talking about a significant increase in the level of both ambition and deployment. That high level of ambition must be maintained by the Scottish Government – you need that foresight and confidence to encourage future investment.
“ScotWind has great potential to help deliver Net Zero within suitable timescales and at the scale and cost that is required. Everyone in the offshore wind industry is looking at this with a great deal of interest. It’s an exciting area and one in which Scotland really does have the potential to be a global player.”
This article appeared in the recent Scottish Power "Countdown to Net Zero" publication which you can view online HERE
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel