A pioneering floating offshore wind farm off the coast of Caithness has secured up to £150 million in public investment, marking the first project stake for Great British Energy since the organisation was established earlier this year.
The Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm, located approximately 7.5 kilometres from Dounreay, has attracted backing from three public investment bodies – Great British Energy, the National Wealth Fund, and the Scottish National Investment Bank – each committing up to £50 million as the scheme progresses through development and construction.
The announcement comes as Aberdeen’s energy sector confronts a deepening crisis, with intensifying calls for the UK government to reform the Energy Profits Levy ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget on 26 November. Industry leaders, business organisations, and trade unions have united in warning that without urgent policy intervention, the North Sea faces accelerated decline, taking tens of thousands of skilled jobs with it.
First Major Investment for State Energy Company
The Pentland project represents a significant milestone for Great British Energy, the publicly-owned energy investment company headquartered in Aberdeen and launched by the Labour government following its 2024 election victory. The 100-megawatt development will comprise six floating turbines mounted on innovative floating platforms anchored to the seabed, capable of powering up to 70,000 homes. This is approximately 65 percent of households in the Highland Council area.
The project is being developed by Highland Wind Limited, which is majority owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, a Danish fund manager that oversees approximately €32 billion in global renewable energy investments. Japanese energy company Eurus Energy and Swedish floating wind specialist Hexicon hold minority stakes. Development activities are led by Copenhagen Offshore Partners from its Global Floating Offshore Wind Competence Centre in Edinburgh, which the company established specifically to accelerate deployment of this emerging technology.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves described the investment as key to “bolstering our energy security to lower people’s bills”, while Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes characterised it as “the Bank’s first direct investment in an offshore wind farm, sending a strong signal to the market that floating wind is of critical importance for Scotland’s energy transition, our supply chain and our economy”.
Nischal Agarwal, partner at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said the company was “delighted to welcome NWF, GBE and the Bank as new partners” and emphasised that floating offshore wind “holds significant potential to innovate, reduce its technology costs, and establish a world-leading UK supply chain capable of enabling scaleable low-carbon power generation to meet future growth in electricity demand”.
Pioneering Technology for Deeper Waters
The project will showcase cutting-edge floating offshore wind technology – often abbreviated as FLOW – which enables turbines to operate in waters too deep for traditional fixed-bottom installations. The Pentland farm will utilise Stiesdal Offshore’s TetraSub floating foundation, described as “the world’s first fully industrialised floating offshore technology” based on factory-made modular components. This approach significantly reduces manufacturing time and transportation costs while creating opportunities for local supply chain participation.
The turbines will reach up to 300 metres in height and be positioned in waters approximately 7.5 kilometres offshore. Unlike fixed offshore wind farms, which must be anchored directly to the seabed, floating platforms use mooring lines and anchors, allowing deployment in deeper waters where winds are typically stronger and more consistent.
The company estimates the project will create more than 1,000 jobs throughout construction and operation, with supply chain spending expected to support up to 1,300 full-time equivalent positions during the construction phase and 85 full-time equivalent roles annually during operations.
In Case You Missed it:
The National Wealth Fund, established in October 2024 through the rebranding and expansion of the UK Infrastructure Bank, has been capitalised with £27.8 billion to catalyse private investment in clean energy and industrial transformation. The Scottish National Investment Bank, created in 2020, has a mission to support Scotland’s transition to net zero and invest in businesses aligned with sustainable economic growth.
Scotland currently has two operational floating wind farms – Hywind Scotland and Kincardine – but plans to add a further 24 gigawatts of floating wind capacity through the ScotWind leasing round and Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) programmes. Analysts estimate the UK’s total offshore wind capacity could reach 115 gigawatts by 2050, with approximately 35 percent of installed turbines using floating technologies.
All eyes now turn to Chancellor Reeves’s Budget statement on 26 November, which is expected to address the future of the Energy Profits Levy and set the direction for the UK’s energy policy in the years ahead.
