£20bn project set to decarbonise North Sea platforms

Led by Cerulean Winds, the North Sea Renewables Grid (NSRG) will see the development of three 333km2 sites with hundreds of floating turbines, producing multiple GW of electricity. The announcement has come after Cerulean and Frontier Power International were awarded a significant number of seabed leases in the Central North Sea as part of the recent Crown Estate Scotland INTOG round.

A total investment of £20bn is set to be made across the project, which will also feature consortium partners NOV, Siemens Gamesa, Siemens Energy, DEME and Worley. Phase 1 of the NSRG will deliver green power to oil and gas operators across the Central North Sea basin, which Cerulean claims will enable the platforms to eliminate millions of tonnes of production emissions. Future phases of the project will see green electricity exported to mainland UK and beyond.

“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,” said Dan Jackson, founding director of Cerulean Winds. “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 for affordable power.