UK's Flotation Energy and Harbour Energy Collaborate to Assess North Sea Floating Wind Powering Oil and Gas Platforms

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 3, UK offshore wind developer Flotation Energy and oil and gas company Harbour Energy signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly evaluate opportunities to use floating offshore wind to power oil and gas assets in the North Sea. The collaboration is currently at the stage of technical, regulatory, and commercial solution assessment, with no specific project investment decision or power supply contract yet formed.

The collaboration will combine Harbour Energy's experience in operating oil and gas assets in the North Sea with Flotation Energy's project capabilities in floating offshore wind and electrification of offshore facilities. The two parties plan to study different power supply scenarios and evaluate the technical routes, regulatory requirements, and commercial conditions involved in connecting floating wind to oil and gas platforms. Harbour Energy currently operates the Solan field in the UK North Sea and holds interests in oil and gas assets including Clair and Schiehallion.

Flotation Energy has previously secured development areas for two floating wind projects, Green Volt and Cenos, through Scotland's Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas (INTOG) offshore wind leasing mechanism. The two projects have a combined planned capacity of approximately 1.9 GW and are being co-developed by Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn, with Green Volt having a maximum planned capacity of 560 MW and Cenos approximately 1.4 GW. INTOG itself was designed for application scenarios such as floating wind powering North Sea oil and gas facilities.

Green Volt is located approximately 80 km east of Peterhead, Scotland, with up to 35 floating wind turbines and a maximum total installed capacity of 560 MW. The project has obtained onshore and offshore planning consents and secured an option agreement with Crown Estate Scotland in 2024. The project design includes transmitting power to the UK grid while also supplying electricity to North Sea oil and gas platforms, replacing part of the platforms' existing gas and diesel power generation.

The Cenos project is located offshore eastern Scotland, with plans to install up to 95 floating wind turbines in the 15–21 MW class. The project's power system design includes delivering AC power to oil and gas platforms while converting part of the power to DC via offshore converter facilities for transmission to the UK grid. Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn submitted the Cenos offshore consent application to Scottish marine authorities in February 2025, with the project targeting first power around 2031.

Harbour Energy itself has also previously entered the INTOG project list. Leasing results published by Crown Estate Scotland show that Harbour Energy secured development areas for two targeted oil and gas electrification projects of 15 MW each. The memorandum of understanding signed with Flotation Energy concerns further evaluation of electrification options for North Sea oil and gas facilities. It has not yet been clarified which specific Harbour Energy oil and gas asset the collaboration will correspond to, nor have the wind capacity to be used, investment amounts, or implementation timelines been announced.