Port of Aberdeen, in partnership with Subsea7, has secured a grant of £150,000 from The Scottish Government to investigate the feasibility of storing hydrogen underwater at the new Aberdeen South Harbour.

The ‘H2Shore – Hydrogen coastal storage and distribution’ project will conduct thorough engineering analyses to determine the most effective technological approach and identify an appropriate offshore location. Additionally, the project will develop an outline business case.

Energy consultancy firm, Xodus, is tasked with scrutinising the necessary distribution and bunkering requirements, with a focus on equipment, processes, and operating procedures.

This study is among 32 projects to receive funding from the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme, a programme dedicated to fostering innovation in renewable hydrogen production, storage, and distribution.

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See Monster – the decommissioned North Sea offshore platform that is set to become one of the UK’s largest public art installations – is due to arrive in Weston by sea this week.

It comes after weeks of rumours surrounding delays over the opening of the attraction, which was due to open for the summer season.

The transformation of the platform is a world-first that aims to inspire global conversations about the repurposing of large industrial structures and design-led solutions to sustainable futures.

And the 450-tonne platform will be transported on a flatbed barge as large as a football pitch to its new home at the Tropicana, an iconic seafront landmark, and lifted by crane over the seawall onto preconstructed legs. 

The entire construction will be 35m tall – 15m taller than the Angel of the North and just 11m shy of Nelson’s Column.

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Ambitious plans to expand offshore wind around the United Kingdom to power homes and businesses with cheap, homegrown energy received a further boost recently with a multimillion-pound manufacturing fund opening for expressions of interest.

The Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS) will provide £160 million in UK government funding to boost floating offshore wind capability around the UK at sites in Scotland, Wales and elsewhere by supporting manufacturers and giving private investors the confidence to back this emerging sector which is expected to rapidly expand in the years ahead.

The emerging UK floating offshore wind sector already has two operational projects generating power off the coast of Scotland at Hywind Scotland and Kincardine.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) £160 m of funding is expected to unlock further deepwater port infrastructure and support private investment in new factories to mass-produce major components for floating offshore wind, with ambitions for projects off the coast of Wales.

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PD Ports is delighted to have entered into a long-term deal with Seajacks, a world-leader in offshore solutions, to bring their UK Marine base to the Tees Valley.

Formerly based in Amsterdam, the new agreement will see Seajacks utilising Cargo Fleet Wharf at Teesport Commerce Park to berth up to three of the world’s most advanced and capable self-propelled jack-up vessels whilst not out at work in the North Sea.

The first of these vessels, the Kraken, successfully moored at Teesport Commerce Park recently, reinforcing the strength of the Tees Valley’s position in the global offshore wind industry.

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Orbital Marine Power Ltd are currently building the world’s most powerful tidal turbine and it is with no sense of concession they have engaged a supply chain here in the UK that is delivering over 75% (by value) of the turbine.

Steel from Motherwell, layering composites for rotors in Gosport, casting iron in Scunthorpe, fabricating in Llangefni, machining hydraulic cylinders in Sheffield, assembling mechanical systems in Workington, welding in Fife, wiring electrical connectors in Southampton, installing offshore infrastructure in Orkney, assembling the most impressive tidal turbine the world has ever seen in Dundee.

By building in the UK, they have enabled UK suppliers to commit their fantastic capabilities to deliver their vision and uphold their standards and principles.

Well done to Andrew Scott and the team at Orbital for believing in the flexibility and capabilities of the UK supply chain, rather than assume the default position of always tendering the use of foreign yards.

Thanks also for recognising the key role maritime SMES play in driving the success of projects, such as yours.

Worth noting UK governmentUK Ministry of DefenceScottish National Party (SNP) that its possible! A poignant reminder as we seek to deliver the aims of the refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy.

To any Maritime SME out there who wants to signify to buyers, consumers, and specifiers, that their business associates with the globally well-regarded UK brand of maritime excellence, you can register for free as a National Maritime ‘ Hybrid Blue Prime’ partner and we will send you the full suite of UK quality marks to get you started.

Thanks again Orbital for making the case for UK business.

Sourced, Serviced, Produced in the United Kingdom

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bp and EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG have awarded Fugro a geotechnical site investigation contract for their new offshore wind farms, Morgan and Mona, located in the Irish Sea.

This marks bp’s entry into the UK’s offshore wind power sector and, when complete, Morgan and Mona will have a combined generating capacity of 3 GW, sufficient to power the equivalent of 3.4 million UK households with clean electricity.

Fieldwork will run from May to September 2022, with the site located approximately 30 km off the coast of North Wales and North West England in an area known for its severe currents and challenging offshore environment. Fugro will rely on their premium vessels, Fugro Synergy and the Normand Mermaid, to complete geotechnical investigations. These operations will also include the use of Fugro’s SEACALF® Mk V Deepdrive system for seabed cone penetration tests (CPTs), as well as the SEADEVIL® for vessel-based and seafloor downhole testing.

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A study commissioned by Crown Estate Scotland has concluded that connecting offshore wind installations directly to oil and gas platforms would help decarbonisation, support economic activity, and help new companies enter the offshore renewable energy sector. 

The report follows the announcement in February 2022 of the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) offshore wind leasing process proposed by Crown Estate Scotland. INTOG is the first leasing process of its type, bringing together the oil and gas industry and offshore wind sector to help achieve shared goals of innovation and decarbonisation. 

INTOG will see developers applying for the rights to build small scale innovative offshore wind projects of less than 100MW, as well as larger projects connected to oil and gas infrastructure to provide electricity and reduce the carbon emissions associated with those sites. 

This new report says that with a rapidly expanding offshore wind market, large numbers of companies are now seeking to diversify into the sector, some for the first time. It highlights the combination of government policy, demand, and supporting infrastructure that make Scotland an attractive location. 

The report also highlights INTOG’s potential for off-grid solutions, by connecting wind turbines directly to oil and gas platforms, negating the need for connection to the shore.  

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Global offshore services business OEG Offshore has “massively broadened” its renewables capability by snapping up Manor Renewable Energy Ltd .

Acquisition of the temporary power, engineering and vessel business, which boasts group turnover in the region of £30m, advances OEG’s fast‐paced strategy to deliver integrated offshore service packages across the world.

Bringing Manor Renewables’ expertise, reputation and track record into the OEG fold instantly enhances its topside offering following its purchases last year of offshore welfare leaders Pegasus Welfare Solutions Ltd and offshore radio‐communications specialists Fern Communications Limited.

At the same time the purchase of Hughes Subsea Services last autumn expanded its subsea position in renewables installations and maintenance.

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Hellenic Cables, the cable segment of Cenergy Holdings, has been awarded the Dogger Bank C array cable contract by DEME OFFSHORE SERVICES BV, the renewables business unit of DEME Group. Already the designated cables’ supplier for Dogger Bank A and B, with this contract Hellenic Cables becomes the sole inter-array cables’ supplier for the world’s largest offshore wind farm. 

Dogger Bank C is a joint venture between SSE Renewables and Equinor, while Dogger Bank A and B are owned by SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Eni. SSE Renewables is leading the construction and delivery of all three phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, while Equinor will operate Dogger Bank Wind Farm on completion.

Under the new contract, Hellenic Cables will design, manufacture, test, and supply approx. 240 km of 66 kV XLPE-insulated inter-array cables and associated accessories. This is in addition to 650 km of array cables already awarded for phases A & B. The cables will be produced at Hellenic Cables’ vertically integrated, state-of-the-art submarine cables plant in Corinth, Greece. Production of the cables for Dogger Bank C is set to begin in 2023 and delivery will be a phased roll out in line with the project execution program. 

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Scotland could become a world leader in producing low carbon concrete foundations for floating offshore wind farms, according to a study funded by RWE, which is now increasingly involved in floating wind.

The study identified potential business opportunities from the current ScotWind seabed leasing round, and calls on Scottish politicians, project developers, suppliers and industry experts to join forces and investigate how best to unlock the potential, while maximising opportunities for local investment.

The research was carried out in partnership with researchers at the UK’s Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE), through its Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence (FOWCOE), and was also supported by offshore wind industry experts at the Concrete Centre.

The study focused on concrete foundation designs and tested the feasibility of a production facility, capable of building 33 concrete floating foundations for 15 megawatts (MW) turbines each year with researchers reviewing Scotland’s existing experience and capabilities for producing specialist concrete focused on using low carbon methods and materials.

They found that both Scottish ports and industry have existing experience and skills from producing concrete at scale that can be applied to this low carbon alternative.

In terms of scale of opportunity, the study noted that just a single project would require a volume of low carbon concrete potentially up to four times greater than that needed to build one of Scotland’s largest infrastructure projects, the Queensferry Crossing.

It also said that to keep costs low and reduce carbon footprint, concrete production should take place at or close to the quayside where the foundations would be deployed and identified four Scottish ports – Hunterston, Kishorn, Port of Cromarty Firth (Invergordon) and Ardersier, as well as clusters of potential sites, including the Cromarty Firth and the Forth and Tay, which could potentially meet the capacities required.

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