The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre is a ground breaking new facility to be developed off the coast of Aberdeen which will enable the accelerated development of offshore wind power in Scotland, the UK and Europe. The project has received significant support from the Scottish European Green Energy Centre and was awarded a grant by the European Commission of up to forty million Euros in December 2010.

The timing of this development is particularly advantageous to those companies preparing their UK Round 3 offshore wind proposals, the wider European offshore ambition and the global desire to meet the 2020 Kyoto carbon reduction commitments.

The Deployment Centre is being developed by Aberdeen Offshore Wind Ltd, comprising Vattenfall Wind Power UK and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG). Technip will also play a major role in the delivery of the project.

The project takes advantage of Aberdeen’s significant depth of experience in the international offshore energy industry and its huge base of marine engineering expertise. The city itself boasts over 900 energy companies involved in all areas of the international supply chain, many of which are eager to transfer their very applicable skills into the development of the offshore renewable energy industry

The Deployment Centre will allow offshore wind farm developers and associated supply chain companies to test new designs, prove existing products and receive independent validation and accreditation before commercial deployment. This will reduce development risks and capital costs and provide an opportunity to test reliability and capacity in a real time, offshore environment, significantly improving the efficiency and profitability of future offshore wind developments. Lessons learned will then be disseminated to the EU industry at large.

The site will provide opportunities across the whole offshore wind supply chain and host a range of manufacturers and turbine developers, providing a benign marine environment, good wind regime and close-to-shore access for ease of installation and O&M operations. Encouraging a widening of the turbine and foundation design marketplace, the project has already attracted international interest from industry leaders and emerging companies.

The site also plans to host a centre of excellence for environmental research into offshore renewables, including bird and marine mammal studies, as well as ongoing research into the effects of installation and operation of a wind farm on a long-term basis.

At the heart of the project is an interaction between research, testing and training alongside a commercially operated, highly instrumented offshore wind farm, which will provide electricity to the national grid, generate two thirds of Aberdeen’s domestic electricity requirements and contribute to the UK’s target of 15% electricity from renewable sources by 2020. 

In summary the centre will provide:

• An industrial scale offshore wind deployment centre to support the European and UK development programmes. The value of the UK wind programme alone is currently estimated be worth up to £100 billion by 2020.
• A research hub with access to emerging, commercial scale technologies which will inform the offshore market and disseminate best practice
• A marine test site for new turbine and foundation designs including a production development programme
• Opportunities for trialing new technology and processes including helicopter, boat and personnel access methods and equipment, instrumentation and calibration, cable laying and electrical grid connection technologies
• A centre of excellence in occupational training, accreditation and certification
• An advanced control, operations, maintenance and emergency response centre
• A facility for public and commercial stakeholder education
• A small commercial windfarm generating enough electricity to power two thirds of the domestic demand of Aberdeen

The proposed plans are currently subject to the Scottish Government’s formal consultation and decision making process after the project partners submitted a consent application to Marine Scotland on August 1, 2011.

For further information and access to additional supporting documents please visit: http://www.vattenfall.co.uk/en/aberdeen-bay.htm