Aberdeen is poised to establish itself as a world leader in floating offshore wind technology development with the launch of a major new mooring line test rig project at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s Floating Wind Innovation Centre. The initiative has secured £1.1 million in first-phase funding from both the Scottish Government’s Just Transition Fund and Energy Transition Zone Ltd, marking a significant step forward in addressing a critical infrastructure gap that threatens to delay floating wind projects across the United Kingdom.
Addressing a Global Testing Shortage
The new facility will be one of only a handful of large-scale mooring line test rigs worldwide capable of validating synthetic mooring lines at the scale and functionality required by the rapidly expanding floating offshore wind sector. Current testing capacity is severely limited globally, with existing facilities concentrated primarily in Norway, where DNV operates state-of-the-art mooring testing centres in Bergen and Høvik equipped with tensile machines ranging from 400 to 2,900 tons capacity.
Peter MacDonald, Head of Engineering at ORE Catapult, emphasised the transformative potential of the project: “A market-leading rig of this kind will create a game changing economic opportunity for Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland. Mooring line innovation is essential to address the specific requirements of floating offshore wind, including new materials, and this mooring line test rig will provide a catalyst for further investment in the region.”
The test rig will be located at the Hareness Road site within Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone, a 250-hectare industrial complex positioned adjacent to the newly regenerated £420 million Aberdeen South Harbour. This strategic location places the facility within 100 nautical miles of the majority of Scotland’s ScotWind licenses, which represent 29.3 GW of planned offshore wind capacity, including 18.5 GW of floating wind projects.
The Energy Transition Zone is emerging as Scotland’s largest dedicated energy transition industrial complex, structured around specialist campuses for offshore wind, hydrogen, innovation, and skills development. The zone is designed to support 2,500 direct jobs, with a further 10,000 energy transition-related positions anticipated across the wider region.
MacDonald highlighted the broader significance of securing government support: “We are delighted to receive support from the Scottish Government and the Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) for this project – supporting the growth of floating offshore wind and propelling us towards our Clean Power targets.”
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Technical Innovation and Supply Chain Development
The mooring line test rig is being developed in partnership with Apollo, a specialist marine engineering company with extensive experience in mooring design, analysis, and integrity management across the offshore energy sector. Nigel Robinson, Marine Energies Director at Apollo, expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration.
He commented: “We are very excited to be working with ORE Catapult and the local supply chain to deliver this critical piece of validation equipment. The scope of work aligns ideally with our detailed design capability and there is an excellent opportunity for the local supply chain to undertake the build-out. It will be great to see mooring validation centred here on the North East of Scotland.”
Construction work on the Aberdeen site is scheduled to commence in January 2026.
