The company said that its 拢10bn proposed green infrastructure plan would have the capacity to abate 20 million tonnes of CO2 through simultaneous North Sea projects west of Shetland and in the central North Sea. The scheme would include over 200 floating turbines split across two sites, with excess power used for the production of hydrogen.
Cerulean estimates that the current 160,000 oil and gas jobs can be safeguarded and 200,000 new roles within the floating wind and hydrogen sectors will be created within the next five years.
The venture is calling on UK and Scottish governments to make an 鈥榚xceptional鈥� case to deliver an 鈥榚xtraordinary鈥� outcome for the economy and the environment. A formal request for seabed leases has been submitted to Marine Scotland.
Cerulean Winds is led by entrepreneurs Dan Jackson and Mark Dixon, who have more than 25 years鈥� experience working together on major offshore infrastructure developments in the oil and gas industry.聽
Jackson said: 鈥淭he UK is progressing the energy transition, but a sense of urgency and joined-up approach is required to enable rapid decarbonisation of oil and gas assets or there is a risk of earlier decommissioning and significant job losses. Emissions are quite rightly no longer acceptable, but with emissions penalties and taxes coming, the UK oil and gas industry鈥檚 role in homegrown energy security during the transition could be threatened unless current decarbonisation efforts can be greatly speeded up. The consequences of not moving quickly enough will be catastrophic for the economy and the environment.鈥�
The Cerulean leadership has Tier 1 contractors in place to deliver the backbone development, which involves over 200 of the largest floating turbines at sites West of Shetland and in the Central North Sea. There would be 3GW per hour of capacity, feeding power to the offshore facilities and an excess 1.5GW per hour power to onshore green hydrogen plants.
Cerulean said has undertaken the necessary infrastructure planning for the scheme to ensure the required level of project readiness, targeting financial close in Q1 2022. Construction would start soon after with the scheme coming into use in 2024.聽 聽
Jackson added: 鈥淲e have a transformative development that will give the UK the opportunity to rapidly decarbonise oil and gas assets, safeguard many thousands of jobs and support a new green hydrogen supply chain. The decision to proceed with the scheme will ultimately rest with the Scottish government and Marine Scotland and their enthusiasm for a streamlined regulatory approach. The ask is simply that an exceptional decision is made for an extraordinary outcome. We are ready to deliver a self-sustained development that will decarbonise the UKCS and be the single biggest emissions abatement project to date.鈥�
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