Ocean Winds, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE, is contemplating dividing its 2GW Caledonia offshore wind farm in the Moray Firth into two distinct phases. The proposed split would result in Caledonia North, a fixed-bottom site, and Caledonia South, which could potentially incorporate both fixed and floating wind turbines.
Mark Baxter, Caledonia project director, explained the rationale behind this decision:
“The north is shallow with ground conditions similar to the other sites in the Moray Firth. Monopiles could be used in parts of the north and work will continue to establish whether it’s possible to use jackets in the south.”
While the total capacity of the project would remain capped at 2GW, each phase is expected to have a capacity between 900MW and 1.1GW. The decision to split the project is primarily driven by grid connection constraints and the varying water depths across the 165-square-mile site.
The National Grid has allocated two potential landfall locations for the project’s export cables.
Elaborating on the phasing strategy, Baxter commented: “The phasing of the project is going to be in line with what grid capacity becomes available. We’re still in the process of finalising the grid connection with National Grid via SSEN.”
Ocean Winds is keeping the project flexible as it progresses through the consenting and financing stages.
As part of the ScotWind programme, the Caledonia offshore wind farm is one of 17 projects that aim to deliver more than 20GW of installed capacity, and is is one of the few projects scheduled to be operational by 2030.
