Enregy company TotalEnergies has opened an offshore wind hub in Scotland that will allow the “transition of staff from oil and gas to offshore wind” as the green sector grows, the French energy major said in a statement.
The unit will sit inside the firm’s existing Aberdeen center for UK North Sea oil and gas, and will draw on operations that have been “built over the last 50 years” at the site.
TotalEnergies chairman and chief executive Patrick Pouyanné said in the statement: “With the energy transition gathering speed, we see Scotland as a great place to broaden our relationship by investing in offshore wind.
“As a global multi-energy company long engaged in UK energy supply, our decision to base our UK offshore wind hub here in Aberdeen is a mark of our confidence in the future of renewables in the UK and our continued commitment to Scotland and the North Sea.”
TotalEnergies, formerly Total, also announced a £140 million investment in a 2 gigawatt offshore wind project called West of Orkney Windfarm. Australian bank Macquarie’s Green Investment Group and Scottish developer Renewable Infrastructure Development Group are also partners in the wind farm.
TotalEnergies said the three firms will “develop the Scottish supply chain and harbour infrastructure specifically around this project”.
The energy major purchased a majority stake in another large wind farm off the coast of Scotland last year, with expectations that global oil demand will peak before 2030, due to the low-carbon energy shift, reported Bloomberg News.
The firm has upped its stakes in renewable energy assets across the UK recently.
The French firm also invested in a smaller floating-wind project in Wales, Bloomberg said.
Also, in February, TotalEnergies again partnered with Macquarie’s Green Investment Group to win the rights to develop a 1.5 gigawatt offshore wind farm off the coast of Lincolnshire, England.
