Scotland is Installing Offshore Wind to Power Offshore Oil Platforms

Scotland has opened a brand new kind of offshore wind lease round aimed specifically at providing clean power to offshore oil and gas platforms. The newly-announced Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) lease round is additional to the massive ScotWind auction for commercial-scale offshore wind projects, which was completed in January. 

The new, unique leasing round will help Scotland's offshore industry decarbonize enough to meet the targets of the UK North Sea Transition Deal, which calls for a 50 percent cut in emissions from offshore production by 2030. The INTOG wind auction solicits proposals from offshore wind developers for projects that provide electrical power for platforms or for other innovative purposes. Developers with new ideas can apply for small-scale leases to try out new technologies at a scale of less than 100 MW. 

Crown Estate Scotland has made the terms of the lease agreements more attractive for developers by extending the option periods to seven years (up from five) and doubling the lease period to 50 years (from 25) for platform-electrification projects.

The application window for the lease round closes in mid-November, and depending on the quality and quantity of the proposals, results should be announced by the end of the first quarter of next year. 
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“INTOG represents an exciting opportunity to help decarbonise oil and gas installations and enable innovative projects which are important in lowering costs for the commercial deployment of offshore wind, reducing risk, and developing Scotland as a destination for innovation and technical expertise," said Colin Palmer, Director of Marine for Crown Estate Scotland. "Taken as a whole, INTOG will play a significant role in helping us reach net-zero and meet our energy requirements of the future."

Top image: UK North Sea oil platforms (NAC / CC BY SA 4.0)