TotalEnergies launches floating offshore wind pilot project

ABERDEEN, August 29, 2024 – TotalEnergies has launched a pilot floating offshore wind project to supply power to an oil platform in the UK North Sea, the company announced on Thursday.

The 3-MW floating wind turbine will be located 2 kilometres west of the Culzean platform, situated 220 kilometres off the eastern coast of Scotland. The turbine, expected to be fully operational by end 2025, will supply around 20% of Culzean’s power requirement.

This pilot project was selected in the government-owned Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas leasing round, designed to encourage and support the use of offshore wind energy to directly supply offshore oil and gas platforms, the company said.

“This innovative pilot project aims at proving the concept of hybridisation of power generation on an offshore facility, by integrating the generation of renewable electricity from a floating wind turbine with the existing power generation from gas turbines,” TotalEnergies chief technology officer Marie-Noelle Semeria said.

“It also aims at qualifying a promising floater design for the future of floating offshore wind.”

Photo courtesy of TotalEnergies.