Spanish-Japanese company unveils 500 MW floating wind plan in Scotland

A Spanish-Japanese company has unveiled plans for a 500 MW floating wind farm in the North East of Scotland and is now looking for a financial partner to develop and build the project.

The company, with head offices in Madrid and Tokyo, announced on 5 May that it had begun the process of searching for a financial partner for a floating offshore wind project, which would be constructed during 2026 and 2027 and put into operation in 2028.

The total investment in the development phase of Univergy Solar’s project, named Scotia Ventus, has been estimated to be around GBP 28 million (€32.18 million), with the construction of the project expected to amount to GBP 1.2 billion (around €1.4 billion). The initially expected return on investment would be around 8.5 per cent, the company said.

From the financial partner, Univergy Solar will require a leasing with financial coverage for more than GBP 228 million (€262.4 million).

Ignacio Blanco, the company’s Executive President and CEO, said the company will be providing all the necessary due diligence and the technical and profitability studies carried out to facilitate the negotiation.

The company states that it begun the activities to launch the Scotia Ventus project and present it to the Scottish authorities through a tender in October 2018. Also, Univergy said its grid connection specialists had met with a senior team from Distribution Network Operator (DNO) Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and confirmed that there was sufficient capacity at the designated point where at least 500 MW could be connected in 2028.

Back in 2018, Univergy signed an agreement with Saitec Offshore Technologies for the creation of a special purpose company for the development of floating wind projects with SATH (Swinging Around Twin Hull) technology in Japan.

In Scotland, an offshore wind seabed leasing round – ScotWind Leasing – is currently under way, with the deadline for applications set for 16 July and several developers already announcing their participation, including the offshore wind giant Ørsted, SSE Renewables, and BlueFloat Energy.