World's largest floating offshore wind farm gets green-light off Aberdeenshire coast

Scotland is set to be home to the world's biggest offshore floating wind farm after it was given the green light.

The project is to be positioned off the coast of Peterhead with the creation of "hundreds" of new jobs.

When operational, 'Green Volt' - operated by Floatation Energy and Vargronn - will boast up to 35 floating turbines and provide 560 megawatts of energy.

Generation will go to offshore oil and gas platforms, but the farm will also be connected to the UK grid.

At the moment, the biggest development which has just 11 turbines and generates around 88 megawatts of energy, is off the coast of Norway.

The development - part of the Innovation and Target Oil and Gas leasing round from Crown Estate Scotland - was hailed as "great news" by First Minister Humza Yousaf.

"Scotland is one of the best places in the world to develop offshore wind and its supply chain, and we are determined to maximise the huge economic opportunity offshore wind can bring," he said.

The announcement comes at a good time for the First Minister after his Government ditched targets to reduce carbon emissions by 75% by 2030, with Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan saying the goal was now "out of reach".

"At the heart of the energy transition"

Nicol Stephen, chief executive officer of Flotation Energy, which owns 50% of the project - said the approval placed his firm and their partner Vargronn "at the heart of the energy transition".

"Green Volt is of international significance, placing Scotland at the leading edge of a new floating wind sector," he said.

"This multi-billion pound development can now move forward confidently, creating hundreds of local jobs and proving that the UK and Scottish supply chain is ready to deliver commercial scale floating projects, at pace."

Olav Hetland, chief executive officer of Vargronn, said the project - the first of commercial scale in Europe - being given approval was an "important moment for the whole offshore wind industry" and it would serve as a "stepping stone" from the current smaller developments to much larger ones.

Sir Ian Wood, Chief Executive of ETZ, claimed the project "sends a huge signal" to investors that Scotland is a "pioneer" in offshore wind technologies.

He said: "I pay tribute to the Scottish Government and its agencies for taking this welcome decision which follows the opening of the world's first floating wind innovation centre in Aberdeen by the First Minister last month.

"With one of the largest concentrations of subsea engineering capabilities anywhere in the world and the largest cluster of energy supply chain companies anywhere in the UK, there truly is no better location than the north-east of Scotland to invest in low carbon technologies."