Pre-Application Consultation

Floating offshore wind is playing a key role in decarbonising the oil and gas sector by enabling the electrification of offshore platforms with clean, renewable energy, reducing their reliance on diesel and gas-powered generators. Projects like the Aspen Offshore Wind Farm will play a major role in the energy transition. By 2050, floating offshore wind could contribute more than £47 billion to the UK economy and employ 100,000 people, whilst supporting the Scottish and UK Government targets for emissions reduction.

Aspen was awarded a 333km2 sea-bed lease in Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round, which created the opportunity for offshore wind projects to provide low carbon electricity to help decarbonise the oil and gas sector whilst scaling a homegrown floating wind industry here in Scotland, establishing the North Sea as a leader in integrated offshore energy solutions.

There are more than 31 oil and gas operators covering 37 facilities across the Northern and Central North Sea. Cerulean is actively engaged with all of these. We have identified around 1 GW of power demand from facilities within 150 km of the Aspen site that are likely to remain for at least 10 years.

Around 20% of the green power generated from the Aspen site will be deployed to enable electrification of these offshore oil and gas facilities, with the remainder being exported to grid.

Each oil and gas facility will be responsible for its own platform equipment modifications and the cable to connect the facility to our offshore substation at Aspen.

The offshore infrastructure consists of up to 72 offshore wind turbines installed on floating foundations. These are kept in place by mooring lines and anchors on the seabed. Any infrastructure above the sea will be within the array area, approximately 84km from Peterhead and will not be visible from shore.

Power will be transferred by dynamic (flexible) cables to centralised substations within the wind farm, then sent to shore and to offshore oil and gas facilities via subsea HVAC cables.

The Offshore Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report is required to support the consents application to Marine Scotland for the offshore parts of the Aspen Project.

A separate onshore report is being prepared to support the planning application to Aberdeenshire Council which will cover the landfall sites, and onshore buried electrical cable and equipment, and we will hold consultations later this year.

The Aspen site was carefully selected as it is located in the heart of the Central North Sea most heavily populated by offshore oil and gas installations; and in a location selected to avoid avoiding high density fishing and other marine constraints and restrictions whilst maximising wind capacity.

Read more about the Aspen Project applications and supporting documents.

Aspen’s approach is to minimise disruption to local harbours and fishing activity wherever possible. We recognise the challenges that can arise when offshore development and fishing operations interact . Early and open communication with local fishermen is a priority.

Any required access to active fishing grounds will be coordinated through the appropriate channels and in line with the Fishing Liaison with Offshore Wind and Wet Renewables Group (FLOWW) Best Practice Guidance.

Any impact on commercial fisheries is being considered as part of the Project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Potential impacts will be fully assessed, and where required, mitigation measures will be developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders.

Aspen will appoint a dedicated Fisheries Liaison Officer (FLO) to engage directly with both inshore and offshore fishing communities. The FLO will act as the main point of contact for fisheries stakeholders throughout the development, construction, and operational phases of the project.

Regular Notices to Mariners will be issued for all marine activities to ensure clear communication of planned works. Aspen will aim to avoid interaction with fishing gear, such as creels, during all marine operations.

In situations where unavoidable impacts may occur, compensation packages may be considered to offset demonstrable losses. Any such arrangements will be handled transparently and in line with industry best practice.

The final location for the landfall of the offshore cables and the continuation of the onshore route has yet to be determined. However, options located between Stonehaven and Portlethen are currently being considered, including in the vicinity of Newtonhill. The final landfall location will be subject to further consultation as part of the onshore pre application consultation process that will start later this year.

The routing and site selection process for the onshore transmission works is still at an early stage. Once proposals are more fully developed, pre-application consultation will be carried out on the onshore infrastructure plans. Residents living near the proposed infrastructure will be contacted directly and invited to provide feedback as part of this consultation process.

The project is expected to deliver a range of benefits to the local community. These include the creation of jobs and training opportunities during both the construction and operational phases, as well as increased demand for local contractors, suppliers, and services. The project will support community investment initiatives, which will be fully consulted on to ensure alignment with community needs. Importantly, the project will contribute to clean energy targets, supporting both regional sustainability goals and the UK’s net zero ambitions. We are committed to working with local stakeholders to ensure these benefits are meaningful and aligned with community priorities.