Latest news with #CorioGeneration
The National
2 days ago
- Business
- The National
West of Orkney windfarm gets green light with 125 turbines approved
Scottish ministers granted offshore consent following a recommendation from the Marine Directorate Licensing Operations Team, allowing the £8 billion, two-gigawatt offshore wind project to move forward. A partnership between Corio Generation, TotalEnergies, and the Renewables Infrastructure Development Group, the wind farm will be located around 30km west of Orkney Mainland and 25km north of the Sutherland coast. It will feature up to 125 fixed-foundation turbines. READ MORE: Wind, words, and willpower: Inside a pivotal week on Skye's energy future ScotWind, managed by Crown Estate Scotland, grants developers the rights to seabed sites to build large-scale offshore wind farms. Project director Stuart Macauley welcomed the decision, stating: 'We'd like to thank the Scottish Government, their officials, and all stakeholders and suppliers who have worked with us so proactively to make this happen.' He also highlighted the need for greater clarity on regulatory issues such as transmission charges, electricity market reform, and the future of Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction rules. 'Like many projects in Scotland and the UK, we and our investors are focused on working with government to achieve the certainty required on key regulatory areas such as transmission charging, electricity market reform and the rules for future CfD auction rounds. 'Gaining clarity on these points will be crucial for investors to fully understand the economic case for progressing into construction and operation. 'The UK Government has set out ambitious decarbonisation goals for 2030 and beyond, and our pioneering wind farm, backed by major international investors, can deliver jobs, inward investment and make a significant contribution to the energy transition in Scotland.' Highland Council had already approved the project's onshore planning application in June 2024. This covers underground cabling and infrastructure needed to connect the wind farm to the national grid in Caithness. In March, the council also confirmed it would not object to the offshore plans submitted to Scottish ministers. The developers have launched several local initiatives, including: A £1m research and development programme led by EMEC in Orkney A £900,000 education initiative with the University of Highlands and Islands A £125k Fit 4 Renewables programme run by ORE Catapult The offshore application included requests under the Electricity Act 1989 and the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, alongside two and a half years of environmental and technical assessments. The West of Orkney Windfarm is expected to play a key role in meeting the UK Government's 2030 net-zero targets.
Irish Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Shelving of giant UK wind farm fuels concerns among developers in Ireland
Irish offshore wind farm developers have reacted with surprise and some alarm following the decision by the world's largest wind developer to halt work on a vast UK project, citing rising costs and the risk of delays. The Hornsea 4 project involved a UK government contract offering more favourable payment terms than those for three major projects in the pipeline for Irish waters. A fourth wind farm project awarded a State contract, at Sceirde Rocks off Connemara , was shelved recently by Corio Generation, which said this was due to difficulties with the location that emerged in recent surveys. Ørsted said it was stopping spending and cancelling contracts for Hornsea 4 off Yorkshire in the North Sea. The a 2.4 gigawatt (GW) project would have been capable of powering more than a million homes. READ MORE The project won a contract guaranteeing a fixed electricity price of £58.87 per megawatt hour, but Ørsted said it could not make the proposed wind farm work. The company said its decision would cost up to £513 million this year due to 'break costs' from cancelled contracts with suppliers. One source told The Irish Times that applying 2025 prices, the 'strike price' for Hornsea 4 was €96.27, more than 10 per cent higher than the average strike price of €86.05 awarded to Irish developers. This called into question the viability of 'phase one projects' supported by the Government under its offshore renewable electricity support scheme (ORESS), he said. 'On that basis, we shouldn't be surprised at Macquarie [Corio] recently abandoning the Sceirde Rocks. And we shouldn't be surprised if other offshore projects come under pressure.' Another said 'continued chronic delays in the Irish planning process' were compounding the challenges and uncertainties facing wind energy projects. However, developers noted two important differences between Irish contracts and the Hornsea contract, which would have enabled Irish projects to bid, and deliver, at lower prices. [ Ireland has strong potential to develop globally competitive offshore wind supply chain, says report Opens in new window ] Minister for Energy and Climate Darragh O'Brien said the Government was determined to deliver on its offshore wind commitments up to 2030 with five 'advanced-stage' projects in the pipeline - two of which do not have State contracts. Its Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce would also be strengthened by 'bringing in the private developers, as it is important they are also at the table', Mr O'Brien said. As Minister, he said he would ensure the necessary resources were in place to deliver on offshore timelines for 20GW by 2040. 'ORESS contracts are for 20 years while British contracts are for 15. That makes a massive difference,' said Wind Energy Ireland chief executive Noel Cunniffe. 'One of the main asks we have as an industry is to extend the onshore contracts to 20 years as well to help reduce prices. It's massively helpful in de-risking the project and making it much easier (and cheaper) to raise capital.' Irish projects were also entitled to 'unrealised available energy compensation', he said, adding that this entitled developers to be compensated if forced to turn off or down renewable power for reasons of oversupply or curtailment. 'That's another big benefit. British wind farms don't have this and, considering the levels of curtailment they're experiencing right now, any British wind farm developer would give a limb for it,' Mr Cunniffe said. 'The British government has said they are going to work to get the project back on track and we hope they succeed.' Ireland 'cannot afford to lose projects' and confidence needed to be built in terms of investors and the international supply-chain, he added. 'The best way to do this is for the Government to continue to work closely with industry to protect and deliver the phase one projects, while delivering a second successful auction later this year for our south coast and building a strong pipeline of projects.'
Reuters
08-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Macquarie halts offshore wind company sale due to lack of interest, sources say
LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - Australia's Macquarie ( opens new tab has cancelled the sale of one of the world's largest offshore wind power developers, due to lack of interest, two people with knowledge of the process said, amid opposition against the renewable energy source by the Trump administration. The decision comes as dealmaking has been shuttered by the global tariff war that has roiled markets. Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here. Macquarie engaged advisers last year to find a buyer for Corio Generation, which oversees 25 gigawatt (GW) pipeline of offshore wind projects spanning Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas, Reuters reported in October. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly. Instead it will downsize the project. "Given challenging market conditions in the offshore wind sector, Corio Generation is refocusing its global operations to prioritise the development of a smaller portfolio of projects which have the clearest route through to construction," a spokesperson for Corio told Reuters. "This will also require a restructure of the organisation to reflect that change in strategy. We are discussing this with our project partners and staff who may be affected by these changes," the spokesperson added. A spokesperson for Macquarie declined to comment. The offshore wind market has become increasingly challenging with many projects having to be revaluated due to rocketing construction costs, higher interest rates and supply chain snags. Energy companies have slowed construction of offshore wind farms in the U.S., specially since U.S. President Donald Trump suspended new offshore wind leasing on his first day back in the Oval Office in January. Headquartered in London, Corio is a portfolio company of Macquarie Asset Management with offshore wind farms in Britain, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the United States and Brazil. Most of Corio's projects are in development phase and need billions of dollars in investments to become operational. Corio Generation changed its CEO earlier this year when Jonathan Cole was replaced by Samuel Leupold.
