Multi-million investment for floating wind at Kishorn Port
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will invest over £24m at Kishorn Port in the West Highlands to expand its dry dock enabling the manufacture of floating offshore wind substructures.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has published the indicative timeline for the eagerly awaited AR7 (Allocation Round 7) for the UK’s Contract for Difference mechanism.
The offshore wind industry is hoping to see the largest capacity allocation, so far, with over 8GW of offshore wind expected in this round. Applications will be submitted in August and the announcement of successful bidders will follow in December 2025 at the earliest or January 2026 at the latest.
The opportunity to maximise offshore wind capacity in this round will be crucial if the Clean Power 2030 target of 43-50GW of operational offshore wind projects is to be met.
AR7 sees a number of innovations applied to this round including the Clean Industry Bonus (CIB) incentive which saw its budget more than doubled from £200m to £544m by Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband due to industry demand. The CIB has been introduced to provide financial rewards for offshore wind developers, on the condition that they prioritise investment in regions that need it most or in cleaner supply chains, including ex-industrial areas, ports and coastal towns.
Also, for the first time, a separate timeline has been published for offshore wind and another one for all other technologies. This is to allow the offshore wind results to be confirmed soon as possible given the tight timeline to the 2030 deadline to help deliver the Clean Power 2030 ambition.
Link to the full AR7 timeline (from the Contracts for Difference mini site)
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will invest over £24m at Kishorn Port in the West Highlands to expand its dry dock enabling the manufacture of floating offshore wind substructures.
The Moray West offshore wind farm reached full power and was officially switched on by the Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray, at Ocean Winds control room facility in Buckie.
Andy Macdonald, chair, SOWEC Innovation Working Group and director of development & operations at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult
The Minister for Climate Action, Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP, has appointed a new Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council industry co-chair for a two-year term.
Scapa Deep Water Quay project receives £5m grant from Highlands and Islands Enterprise to support offshore wind industry
The Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) has commenced market engagements to identify supply chain investment projects that may qualify for funding under the CfD Clean Industry Bonus (CIB) scheme.
SOWEC has published a new report showcasing how offshore wind developers can use innovation projects to help grow Scotland’s supply chain and speed up the delivery of green energy production.
The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council has appointed Scottish Renewables as the Cluster Management Organisation to take forward the establishment of a national Supply Chain Cluster for Scotland.