The proposed MarramWind offshore windfarm is a 50:50 joint venture project between ScottishPower and Shell – world-leading energy developers who have joined forces to deliver the world’s first large-scale floating offshore wind projects.

Located 75 metres off the north-east coast of Scotland in water depths averaging 111 metres, the project could deliver up to 3GW of cleaner renewable energy. That’s enough green electricity to power the equivalent of more than 3.5 million homes.

This will help support the Scottish Government’s target of net-zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045 and will also help support the UK’s drive for energy security and green energy independence.

The proposed MarramWind offshore wind farm is expected to deliver up to 3GW of cleaner renewable energy. That’s enough homegrown green electricity to power the equivalent of more than 3.5 million homes.

This will help support the Scottish Government’s target of net-zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045 and will also help support the UK’s drive for energy security and green energy independence.

In addition, MarramWind will deliver investment, support jobs and boost local supply chains – particularly in areas like the north-east that play a key role in the energy sector, opening up opportunities for businesses and institutions across the country.

It’s still early days for the project, but a huge amount of progress has already been made – we've formed the joint venture and appointed our key people, committed to a £50 million supply chain fund to help grow Scotland’s offshore wind industry, joined forces with the National Energy Skills Accelerator to grow the green workforce of the future, and conducted thousands of miles of seabed surveys.

In January 2023, we submitted the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Report for the proposed project to the relevant planning authorities – Marine Scotland for the offshore elements of the project and Aberdeenshire Council for onshore. The EIA is a process for identifying the likely significant environmental effects of a project and will inform the decision-making process for development consent, culminating in the submission of an EIA report.

After receiving official scoping report feedback from the regulatory authorities, work will start on EIA report preparation.

The proposed MarramWind offshore windfarm is expected to deliver up to 3GW of cleaner renewable energy. That’s enough green electricity to power the equivalent of more than 3.5 million homes.

Floating wind is a real game changer for the renewables industry, allowing us to put turbines in deeper waters further offshore where the wind is stronger and more constant.

Floating windfarms are made up of wind turbines that are placed on floating platforms. Rather than fixing the turbine to the seabed, we fix the turbine to a floating platform that is anchored to the seabed using flexible mooring chains or steel cables, meaning less of an impact on the seabed itself.The turbine is stabilised by these moorings and anchors and by the way the design of the structure distributes the masses and weights. There are different types of floating platforms: barge, semi-submersible, spar and tension leg.

No decision has been made as yet about which platforms will be used for MarramWind.

The design of the turbines is at the early engineering phase and careful consideration will be taken in assessing the required technical capabilities to help determine the optimum solution in the later stage of the project. These will be among the most powerful and productive wind turbines in the world.

As a floating windfarm, the proposed MarramWind needs to be further offshore in deeper waters. It will be located approximately 75 kilometres off the north-east coast of Scotland.

Work is underway to progress our Environmental Impact Assessment – the process for identifying the likely significant environmental effects, both positive and negative, of a project to inform the decision-making process for development consent.

The EIA process will culminate in the provision of an EIA Report, which will describe the likely significant effects and mitigation measures associated with the project during its construction, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning phases.

The scoping phase for MarramWind looks at how we will establish the anticipated content of the EIA Report and the various methodologies that will be used for the assessment.

These were discussed with key stakeholders prior to scoping submission and based on recognised good practice and guidelines specific to each environmental topic or discipline as set out in the Scoping Report.

The assessment phase of the EIA process comes next, which involves the assessment of effects, statutory stakeholder consultation, and the production of the EIA Report.

We've been in discussions with statutory stakeholders for a number of months and that will continue throughout the development of MarramWind.

Stakeholder consultation and engagement is a crucial part of the development process and will be carried out to give stakeholders and members of the public interested in the MarramWind project the opportunity to provide feedback and inform the scope of studies as part of the EIA process.

This will be done in accordance with the relevant legislation, guidance and best practice. Further details will be published as this moves forward and we can advise what is happening – and when – so as many people as possible have the chance to get involved.