Several developers of planned ScotWind floating offshore wind farms are have enquired about selling their projects to a Chinese manufacturing giant, Recharge can reveal.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Recharge at the China Wind Power summit that took place this month in Beijing, the UK CEO of wind turbine giant Mingyang, Aman Wang, revealed the company has been propositioned by several ScotWind developers.<\/p>\n
Mingyang is hoping to sell its floating turbines to several ScotWind projects and is in the running<\/a> to supply the pioneering 540MW Green Volt floating array. Edinburgh-based Flotation Energy and Norway\u2019s Vargronn are developing that project.Cerulean Winds is also considering turbine from Mingyang, a global leader in the floating wind sector, for a 6GW pipeline of Scottish projects, Recharge revealed last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Without naming names, Wang, who is also vice president of global strategy and investment at Mingyang, said the turbine-maker has been in discussions with more than just those developers about supplying Scotwind projects.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a mixed bag,\u201d he said. Some developers are interested in using a particular floating wind turbine for their projects, \u201cone or two as a pilot, then with a bigger pipeline\u201d to follow.<\/p>\n But others are \u201cinterested in trying to sell their seabed lease to us,\u201d said Wang. \u201cSo i.e. they are giving up on the floating projects and trying to sell the development project to us.\u201d<\/p>\n This comes at a time when the offshore wind industry, and particularly the nascent floating sector, is struggling to make the numbers add up for projects amid inflation and supply chain pressures.<\/p>\n There are 20 ScotWind projects with seabed option agreements, according seabed landlord The Crown Estate Scotland, all announced in 2022.<\/p>\n Up to 35GW of offshore wind capacity has been tendered under the ScotWind and INTOG programmes, the latter being a leasing round for projects that will directly reduce emissions from oil and gas production.<\/p>\n Mingyang this month went public with its plan to open up a \u00a31.5bn ($2bn) fully integrated factory in Scotland to service the offshore wind sector, fixed-bottom and floating. That plan is still subject to UK government approval, amid fierce debate over the acceptance of Chinese turbine suppliers in Europe. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to floating, it\u2019s not a rosy picture at the moment,\u201d said Wang, describing it as \u201ccrunch time\u201d for the sector.<\/p>\n Wang said that it is crucial that government, investors and technology leaders \u201cwork together\u201d to help floating wind get back on track.<\/p>\n On whether Mingyang is interested in taking up the developers on their offer to buy the seabed lease, Wang said that developing floating wind projects is \u201cnot our primary interest at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n He stressed that the way that Mingyang \u201ccontributes to the sector\u201d is with technology. \u201cWe\u2019re not there to make development money and take on that risk at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Wang continued that Mingyang is working to collaborate with different stakeholders like the UK\u2019s new public clean power champion GB Energy to \u201cjointly look into\u201d how to best service the country\u2019s offshore wind sector.<\/p>\n \u201cIf necessary, we\u2019re open to it,\u201d he said, regarding buying up seabed rights. \u201cWe\u2019re not ruling that out. But it\u2019s not on the primary list [of Mingyang priorities].\u201d<\/p>\n