Is the UK getting its first wind-powered oil platform?
Cerulean Winds will need to overcome operator aversion to risky new tech
Offshore oil and gas operators are by necessity a conservative bunch, but the energy transition is nudging them out of their comfort zone. A major new project to power North Sea offshore platforms using floating offshore wind turbines will require operators to get comfortable with variable output power supply and contract with third party generators under some sort of bespoke behind-the-meter arrangement.

As the decarbonisation agenda gains traction, so ambition rises in the UK’s world-leading offshore wind industry. The last issue of Energy Flux detailed plans to export Icelandic wind energy to the UK via extra-long subsea cables.
Now, Green infrastructure developer Cerulean Winds has unveiled equally ambitious plans for an integrated 200-turbine floating wind and hydrogen development at sites off the West of Shetland and in the Central North Sea.
Two-thirds of the aggregate generation capacity would be dedicated to powering offshore facilities, wi…