£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.

“Early oil and gas electrification supports the country’s energy security, net zero action and delivers huge benefits to the supply chain and economy, creating 10,000 jobs. With our partners we will accelerate access to green power and provide the infrastructure for the next phase of the North Sea’s life.”

Humza Malik, founding partner of Frontier Power, believes the layout and infrastructure of NSRG will not only deliver for the North Sea oil and gas sector, but will also allow it to export electricity as far as mainland Europe.

“Each windfarm site is located within 100km of the others and will be connected together to form the offshore ring main around the Central North Sea,” said Malik.

“A High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) transmission will provide availability and redundancy for maximising generation uptime. The scale allows for offtake to other parts of the North Sea through a new High Voltage Direct Current (HDVC) network. For the oil and gas companies, this diversity of offtake provides robustness to the scheme and added flexibility. For Scotland, the HVDC transmission not only provides clean energy to the National Grid, but provides export of power directly to continental Europe.”

According to Cerulean Wind’s Jackson, the NSRG partners are planning to build out the project ahead of Scotwind, the recent leasing round that could see as much as 27GW of offshore wind installed in Scottish waters. He said NSRG is aiming for first power in 2028, with development helping to lay supplying chain and port foundations for the glut of Scotwind projects that are set to follow.