Aberdeen firm’s key role in new North Sea floating wind farm projects

The three multi-billion-pound projects will each containing hundreds of floating turbines.

By Kelly Wilson

December 18 2024, 12:01 am

Joseph Strachan, business development and commercial director at Bilfinger with Dan Jackson, founding director of Cerulean Winds. Image: Big Partnership

Aberdeen energy service firm Bilfinger will be the operations and maintenance partner for a new multi-billion-pound North Sea wind farm project.

It has been appointed by Cerulean Winds to join a number of companies developing the Aspen, Beech and Cedar floating offshore wind farms which collectively will generate 3GW of renewable energy.

Each will contain hundreds of floating turbines with the aim to create an offshore power generation and transmission system that will supply low-carbon energy to oil and gas platforms.

The sites, which will form the North Sea Renewables Grid, is expected to create more than 5,000 jobs in construction, operations and maintenance, with first power targeted in 2028.

‘Signficant milestone’ for Bilfinger

Dan Jackson, Cerulean founding director, said: “This is the story of the North Sea transition in a nutshell – a leading oil and gas service provider redeploying its skilled workforce and expertise to scale up floating wind.

Three floating wind farms would supply a North Sea grid under Cerulian's plans. — Three floating wind farms would supply a North Sea grid under Cerulean’s plans. Image: Big Partnership

“Bilfinger is joining an alliance of exceptional companies united by a shared ambition to advance the floating offshore wind industry in Scotland and deliver clean power to the UK.”

The 1GW Aspen site will be developed first, providing new offshore wind capacity helping to meet the UK government’s 50GW by 2030 target.

Bilfinger, based in Bridge of Don, will advise during the detailed design of the Aspen site and once the development is built.

Sandy Bonner, Bilfinger president engineering and maintenance UK, said: “Being
selected as the operations and maintenance partner for these pioneering floating wind
farms is a significant milestone for us, which underscores our commitment to
advancing renewable energy solutions and leveraging our extensive experience in the
energy sector.

“Our early involvement in the design phase will allow us to optimise maintenance strategies and support the project’s ambitious goals of industrial decarbonisation and enabling electrification of oil and gas facilities.

“We look forward to contributing to the success of these ground-breaking projects and driving forward the future of clean energy.”