Source Galileo, a leading European renewable energy development company and Portland Port, a commercial port on the UK Isle of Portland, have put pen to paper on a non-exclusive memorandum of understanding (MoU) to maximise opportunities.<\/p>\n
With an established track record of developing 10 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind to electricity and wind to hydrogen projects off the coasts of Europe, Source Galileo is the business behind the PortWind offshore windfarm proposed in the English Channel.<\/p>\n
It is still very early days but the intention is for up to 132 turbines to be located no closer than 22 km off the Devon or Dorset coast \u2013 the exact location is still being determined \u2013 with opportunity for Portland Port to host construction and operational headquarters for PortWind as well as support accommodation and transport solutions.<\/p>\n
PortWind\u2019s turbine-array-area search areas have been strategically selected to reduce visibility from the coast, limit environmental impacts and harness stronger wind speeds that are found further offshore.<\/p>\n
Charted water depths across the site make the project suitable for fixed-bottom turbine foundation technology in deeper waters further offshore.\u202f<\/p>\n
PortWind has a target installed capacity of circa 2GW with the potential to deliver enough renewable energy to help power over 3 million households annually and contribute to energy security in the South West and the wider UK.<\/p>\n
It is estimated that the facility would offset over four million tonnes of harmful carbon emissions each year.<\/p>\n
Crucially, a 2.5 GW grid connection into a 400 kV substation at Chickerell, near Weymouth, has been secured, including provision for a 350 MW battery energy storage system (BESS).<\/p>\n
Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer, has a 20% stake in the UK offshore wind projects of Source Galileo, which includes the PortWind project.<\/p>\n
Offshore wind benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n The strategic benefits are clear: With the lion\u2019s share of the UK\u2019s offshore wind power capacity currently off the country\u2019s east coast – including the world\u2019 largest windfarm under construction at Dogger Bank – a farm off the south west would provide greater diversity and consistency of renewable energy.<\/p>\n The UK grid would benefit whether the prevailing wind is from the south west or the north and east.<\/p>\n According to The Crown Estate\u2019s Offshore Wind Report 2023, published in May 2024, the sector produced 49TWh of electricity last year – enough to power the equivalent of 50% of UK homes \u2013 saving the equivalent of 18.5m tonnes of CO2 emissions.\u202f\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n UK offshore wind energy now makes up 17% of total UK electricity generated, up from 14% in 2022.<\/p>\n Offshore wind is a UK success story. It\u2019s the second largest offshore wind market in the world and represents more than 40% of European offshore wind capacity.<\/p>\n The pipeline grew by a further 10GW in 2023, to 93GW. However, it is estimated that 125GW could be needed by 2050 to meet net zero in the UK.<\/p>\n Clearly, the PortWind project has the potential to make a significant contribution to the UK\u2019s net zero ambitions as well as the country\u2019s infrastructure, energy security, economy and resilience while reducing the UK\u2019s ongoing unsustainable reliance on imported fossil fuels to meet its energy needs.<\/p>\n It can help create a healthier environment now and for future generations while unlocking jobs and prosperity.<\/p>\n Garrett Morrison, chief development officer at Source Galileo, said: \u201cSource Galileo is developing a portfolio of projects that will generate substantial clean renewable energy direct to homes and businesses across the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cWe look forward to working with Portland Port and collaborating with wider potential partners to develop solutions that will assist the UK Government to attract international investment, accelerate delivery of offshore wind projects, contribute to energy security, support supply chain development, training and job creation in Dorset at the wider South West.\u201d<\/p>\n Port benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n More locally, PortWind has the potential to deliver benefits for Portland Port\u2019s infrastructure and economic development, the supply chain and community as well as support the growing electricity needs of Dorset\u2019s people and businesses, including the port and its tenants.<\/p>\n It aligns with Portland Port\u2019s Green Energy Island initiative to promote the area as a hub for renewables.<\/p>\n With significant deep-water berths and quayside space, and planned future development activity, the port has the capacity and capability to host the construction and operational headquarters for PortWind.<\/p>\n It has water depths of up to 20m at outer harbour anchorages and 15m at inner harbour anchorages as well as water depths of up to 11.7m alongside.<\/p>\n The port, which has operated on a commercial basis since 1996, recently enhanced its infrastructure and capabilities with a \u00a326m investment in a deep-water-berth development.<\/p>\n Opened in 2023, this has allowed it to welcome larger vessels, including ships up to 350m in length on opposite berths on the same day.\u202f<\/p>\n The port, employing nearly 60 people, has a diverse business including its cruise calls which this year are bringing 100,000 passengers on 60 ships. It also provides maritime and marine related services, including berthing facilities for visiting vessels.<\/p>\n The port has a number of tenants who together employ nearly 250 people, including dry and liquid bulk cargo businesses, marine engineers, shipping agents and others.<\/p>\n Several would be of value for a Channel windfarm operation, including a subsea communications cables specialist and a leading provider of offshore power and engineering solutions.<\/p>\n With a Harbour Revision Order (HRO) for the phased development of the dock estate which could potentially deliver up to 130,000 sq m of additional land space, there is scope for additional quayside creation to allow construction and fabrication of wind turbine components.<\/p>\n Ian McQuade, general manager – commercial, Portland Port, said: \u201cThe Portland Port team are committed to working with Source Galileo and wider partners to champion renewable energy deployment in the English Channel, serviced from the port to secure positive benefits for Dorset businesses and communities.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n \u201cIt is still early days for the PortWind project but this MoU shows the direction of travel and supports our Green Energy Island aspiration for Portland to become a leading renewable energy hub on the south coast.\u201d<\/p>\n Powering the future<\/strong><\/p>\n Offshore wind and port infrastructure are key for Dorset\u2019s Clean Energy Super Cluster, which seeks to drive economic transformation to power the future and open up new opportunities for training and employment for local communities.<\/p>\n The cluster is a proactive response to align and deliver the Government\u2019s Industrial Strategy to boost economic growth, stimulate UK supply chain development, improve energy security and resilience in the UK.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n It is positioning Dorset as a prime destination for investment in clean energy with the potential to host nationally significant clean energy infrastructure projects such as windfarms, nuclear Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage and grid improvements.<\/p>\n Portland\u2019s unique geography and the port\u2019s deepwater berths will allow Dorset to help meet the ambitions set out in the government\u2019s Invest 2035 industrial strategy; the UK\u2019s binding target of a 78% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 (compared to 1990 levels) and carbon neutrality by 2050.<\/p>\n The Crown Estate is in the process of determining future locations for offshore wind development in England and Wales so any offshore wind development in the English Channel would be subject to a future leasing round.<\/p>\n It may be early days but a great deal of preparatory work has already been carried out for the PortWind project, while the local council and community will be engaged throughout any project preparation process and plans put in place to the maximise socio-economic benefits.<\/p>\n Attracting international investment and welcoming nationally important infrastructure projects can help ensure\u202fPortland can play a role in the transition to net zero and improve energy security, as well as powering our homes and businesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A newly-signed agreement has signalled a step forward for plans to progress offshore wind development off the coast of Dorset in the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":5129,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,1376,8],"tags":[148,1733,345,511,2000,181],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-5128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy-technology-greenport","category-greenport-exclusive","category-projects-initiatives-greenport","tag-energy","tag-offshore-renewables","tag-offshore-wind","tag-portland-port","tag-portwind","tag-renewable-energy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5130,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5128\/revisions\/5130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5128"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=5128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}