France’s TotalEnergies is set to launch a floating offshore wind pilot project aimed at supplying renewable energy to the Culzean offshore platform in the UK North Sea.
The project features a 3 MW floating wind turbine, to be located approximately two kilometers west of the Culzean platform, which is situated 220 kilometers off the eastern coast of Scotland. The turbine will be mounted on a modular, lightweight semi-submersible floater hull designed by Ocergy, a design that facilitates quick assembly and cost efficiency, according to TotalEnergies.
Scheduled to be fully operational by the end of next year, the wind turbine is expected to meet around 20% of the Culzean platform’s power needs, significantly reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
This pilot project was selected as part of Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas (INTOG) leasing round in 2023. The INTOG process allowed developers to apply for seabed rights to develop offshore wind projects that either reduce emissions from the North Sea oil and gas sector by directly supplying renewable electricity to oil and gas infrastructure (TOG) or to support small-scale innovative projects (IN) of 100 MW or less.
The proposed INTOG projects aim to deliver up to 449 MW of capacity for innovative projects and up to 5 GW for TOG projects. Crown Estate Scotland will grant a 25-year seabed lease for IN projects and a 50-year lease for TOG projects.
TotalEnergies plays a significant role in the UK Continental Shelf’s gas production, accounting for about 30% of it, with an average daily production of 142,000 barrels of oil. The company is actively implementing its Integrated Power strategy in the UK, which combines renewable power generation with flexible power production. TotalEnergies’ renewable portfolio in the UK includes 1.1 GW of gross installed capacity (including the Seagreen offshore wind farm) and an additional 4.5 GW under development.