Firm promises nearly 4,000 Scottish jobs under plans for new floating offshore wind farm

Almost 4,000 new jobs could be created in Scotland if proposals for a new floating offshore wind farm in Scottish waters go head, projections suggest.

The figures have been published by Floating Energy Allyance (FEA), one of 74 bidders for 15 offshore sites earmarked for renewables development off the Scottish coast.

FEA is a partnership including global renewable energy business Baywa r.e, Belgian offshore wind developer and operator Elicio and floating wind technology company BW Ideol.

The group, which has submitted plans to create a new floating wind farm as part of the ScotWind leasing round run by Crown Estate Scotland, has said it is committed to manufacturing the project’s floating concrete foundations locally.

BW Ideol’s damping pool foundation at the Floatgen project, west of Saint Nazaire in northwest France. Picture: Valery Joncheray

It is predicting up to 3,900 Scottish jobs would be created at the peak of manufacturing and construction.

Gordon MacDougall, managing director of Baywa r.e UK, said: “Floating Energy Allyance is focused on being at the vanguard of the development of floating wind in Scotland and fully committed to maximising the opportunities for the Scottish supply chain if successful in ScotWind.

“At the heart of that pledge is our commitment to the manufacture of 100 per cent of our concrete foundations at a port location in Scotland.

“This would drive the majority of the 3,900 jobs created by one of our projects at the peak of construction.

“We would also invest in a new Floating Energy Allyance supply chain fund to support as many Scottish companies as possible to compete for work across all phases of our project.”

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