Subsea specialist, Sulmara, has secured a significant contract to conduct site characterisation at Stromar floating offshore wind farm off the northeast coast of Scotland, which could be one of the world’s largest floating developments.
Sulmara, which has an office in Aberdeenshire, will deploy the Vos Gorgeous – a 60m multi-purpose vessel, to carry out geophysical investigation across the proposed wind farm site in water depths up to 100m.
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The Stromar Offshore Wind Farm is a joint venture by industry leaders and floating wind pioneers Ørsted, BlueFloat Energy and Renantis, which lies 50km off the coast of Caithness in the Moray Firth and could generate up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of green electricity – enough to power the equivalent needs of close to one million homes each year¹.
Stromar’s Project Director, Nicholas Ritchie, emphasised the pivotal role of survey and analysis in shaping the project’s design. He said, “This marks a critical milestone for Stromar, where Sulmara’s expertise, alongside its sustainable vessels and innovative technology, will be crucial for this significant work.
“Partnering with the Sulmara team aligns with our commitment to decarbonisation and, importantly, working with Scottish partners to bolster the local supply chain. Stromar represents a major project that could enhance Scotland’s leadership in the global floating wind sector, while also contributing to the ambitious net zero targets set by both the Scottish and UK governments.”
After experiencing sustained growth, Sulmara extended its reach last year by launching a new office in Aberdeenshire’s Kingshill Park, Westhill, adding to its team of 20 specialists based at its Glasgow headquarters.
Michael King, Head of Sales at Sulmara, said: “As a business founded in Scotland, and with our headquarters in the heart of Glasgow, we’re really excited to be working on a project that is such a big part of Scotland’s energy future. We’re looking forward to working with the team at Stromar to help them gather critical information about its site ground conditions.”
“Mobilising the Vos Gorgeous to carry out site characterisation is a big part of our plans for 2024, and bringing another modern, fuel-efficient vessel online to meet market demand shows how committed we are to supporting our clients’ net zero ambitions. Having multiple vessels on charter gives us more availability and flexibility to meet our client’s high expectations and allows us to take on more complex projects.”
Due to commence in April, the project will see data acquisition carried out to support Stromar’s engineering design work as well as their ongoing environmental assessment of the site.
Formed in 2019 and employing more than 190 people worldwide, Sulmara has grown rapidly to become a leading international services provider with offices across the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Stromar was awarded rights by Crown Estate Scotland under the ScotWind offshore wind leasing round, which could see a total of up to 28.6GW of offshore wind capacity deployed in Scottish waters, significantly contributing towards Scotland’s net-zero targets.
