The Ossian floating wind farm is expected to usher in a new era for renewable energy in Scotland.
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Ossian, named after the legendary Poems of Ossian, has been dubbed a game changer in how the country produces clean energy.
Currently, the project is in its development stage. It’s expected to produce its first power at the turn of the decade.
Here’s what you need to know about it so far.
10 essential facts about the Ossian floating wind farm
1. It’s gigantic
Ossian will be one of the largest floating offshore wind farms in the world. The project will cover 858km2 of seabed located more than 80km off the east coast of Scotland. That’s one of the largest lease areas that Crown Estate Scotland offered to any bidder in the ScotWind leasing round.
2. It’s innovative
Ossian will harness a new kind of technology – floating offshore wind. Unlike common wind turbines that are fixed to the bottom of the ocean floor, Ossian’s more than 200 turbines will be built on floating steel or concrete bases anchored to the seabed by mooring lines. This technology allows access to more of the seabed and deeper waters where there’s potential for higher wind speed and optimised energy production.
3. It’s powerful
Ossian will be able to deliver a potential capacity of up to 3.6GW. That’s enough to power up to 6 million homes annually. This represents a golden opportunity for Scotland and the UK to be a global leader in the floating offshore wind sector.
4. It’s critical for net zero
Ossian can offset an estimated 7.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year, making it critical in helping the Scottish government achieve its net zero target by 2045.
5. It’s a global partnership
Companies from around the world – Japanese floating wind developer Marubeni Corporation, Danish fund management firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Scottish company SSE Renewables Limited – are all teaming up for this ambitious venture. With a shared commitment to sustainability, they are combining their extensive knowledge and unparalleled global expertise in developing offshore wind farms to deliver Ossian at speed to respond to the climate emergency.
6. It’s done essential surveys
Last year, Ossian was the first ScotWind floating offshore wind farm to complete essential geotechnical surveys. These will be key to understanding the engineering properties of the seabed across the site.
7. It has studied local wildlife
Collaborating with other ScotWind developers, Ossian also conducted an 18-month digital aerial survey that documented the habits of more than 75,000 birds in the North Sea, covering two full seabird breeding seasons. Fraser Malcolm, Ossian’s offshore consents manager says: “We want to understand how Ossian may affect the local populations of seabirds and marine mammals.
“Preservation and enhancement of the natural environment is a responsibility we take very seriously. We undertook a range of environmental impact assessment topics in depth to ensure we’re fully understanding our impacts. We try to mitigate impacts as far as possible. It demonstrates our commitment to developing Ossian sustainably.”
8. It will generate jobs
Local contractors can work on the quayside installation of Ossian’s floating wind turbines, minimising the project’s carbon impact. Ossian will also utilise local engineering and manufacturing experts who have worked in the oil and gas industry.
9. It’s committed to working alongside local communities
Aside from helping to preserve the local environment, the project aims to support the local community.
For example, primary school children across the north of Scotland will benefit from enhanced lessons after Ossian committed £200k towards the expansion of the University of the Highlands and Islands’ STEM outreach programme.
10. It’s holding public consultations
Developers of the pioneering floating offshore wind farm are holding online public consultations. This will help answer the public’s questions about the project and how it can benefit Scotland, especially local communities.
The virtual public consultation was launched on January 22 and will run for four weeks.
Over the course of the month there will be four live question and answer sessions that will cover project introduction, environmental assessments, supply chain and the human environment. Interested parties will be able to leave feedback via online forms.
Click here to visit Ossian’s dedicated consultation platform to take part.
