Buchan Offshore Wind will be one of the first of a new generation of windfarms, located in deep water on floating platforms far out at sea.

The project will deploy BW Ideol’s proven Damping Pool® floating foundation technology, which the project has committed to manufacturing in Scotland.

Buchan Offshore Wind is developing a pioneering floating offshore wind farm 75km to the northeast of Fraserburgh on the Aberdeenshire coast.

Technology
BW Ideol’s proven Damping Pool® floating concrete foundations.

Supply Chain
Committed to Scottish fabrication and maximising UK content.

Investment
£900 million in Scotland and 2,900 jobs during construction.

Goal
One gigawatt of generation by mid 2030s.

Proven floating foundation

Buchan Offshore Wind has selected BW Ideol’s Damping Pool® as its preferred floating foundation and has committed to manufacturing these in concrete at a portside location in Scotland.

Assessments, supported by independent studies, show that concrete foundations can be lower cost, lower carbon and will drive increased UK and Scottish content.

BW Ideol has an exclusivity agreement in place with the Ardersier Energy Transition Facility on the Moray Firth where it plans to site a new manufacturing facility which will support 1,300 direct jobs for the operation of the fabrication line.

The Damping Pool® foundation has been operational since 2018 and the design is the only floating foundation proven at sea on two continents.

In 2025, the Damping Pool® received DNV Basic Design Certification for its standardised floating foundation product which has been engineered to meet the requirements of both current (15+ MW) and next-generation (20+ MW) floating wind turbines.

The technologies core innovation lies in applying field-proven technologies like gantry slip-forming, skidding systems, and automated prefabrication commonly used for civil infrastructure and adapting them to the serial production of BW Ideol’s concrete foundations.

Delivery with Scottish supply chain using Scottish materials

When operating at full capacity the production line at Ardersier will produce one 20,000 tonne foundation every 12-14 days.
Standardising design and serialising production creates the pathway to achieve cost reductions in floating offshore wind.

The relatively compact foundation dimensions of 50-60m square footprint and 12-14m draft are ideally suited to integration at the existing ports in the North East of Scotland.

The concrete design maximises Scottish and UK content in sourcing materials, in utilising Scottish port infrastructure and supporting local jobs using indigenous capabilities.

The Partners

Buchan Offshore Wind is a joint venture between three leading European energy businesses which bring highly relevant and complementary capability and expertise to the development of the project.

BayWa r.e. 

BayWa r.e. is an international project developer of wind, solar and battery storage (BESS) projects. Its activities include the planning, development and construction of these projects, as well as their operation and maintenance, and energy trading. In total, BayWa r.e. has successfully brought online more than 6 GW of renewable energy.

BayWa r.e. has been active in the United Kingdom since 2011. The development pipeline in the UK and Ireland currently includes over 3.3 GW of onshore wind, solar and battery energy storage projects, being delivered from offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

BW Ideol

BW Ideol is a market leader in floating offshore wind with 15 years of experience in the design, execution and development of floating wind projects based on its patented Damping Pool® technology. BW Ideol has two floating offshore wind turbines in operation in France and Japan, as well as a 30 MW project nearing commissioning in the Mediterranean, 250MW under development in the Mediterranean and the Buchan Offshore Wind project under development in Scotland. BW Ideol leverages BW Offshore’s experience in the development and operation of offshore energy production systems.

Elicio

Elicio is an international renewable energy business, with a growing portfolio of onshore wind farms in Belgium, France, Serbia and Spain, as well as an experienced Belgian offshore wind developer, owner and operator.

The company benefits from 20 years’ successful experience in offshore wind, with a global portfolio of more than 2.3 GW, comprised of  1.2 GW of floating projects under development (France, Scotland) and over 1.1 GW of now operational fixed-bottom offshore wind farms in the Belgian North Sea.

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