Brittany and Scotland: collaboration between two leading players in the development of floating wind turbines in Europe

This meeting was in line with the development of partnerships around floating wind turbines. It was an opportunity for Breton companies to meet the major contractors Skyborn Renewables, Vattenfall & BlueFloat Energy, two of whom are winners of the Scottish ScotWind tender. These three players are also candidates for the various French tenders, including the AO5 in South Brittany, in consortium with the Triskéol project. These exchanges with Scotland follow on from various meetings between the elected representatives of the Brittany Region and Scottish ministers before the signature of a cooperation agreement between Brittany and Scotland. The aim is to strengthen the partnerships between these two actors of the Celtic arc in the field of renewable energy. Exchanges will continue during the Celtic Summit in Lorient on 9 and 10 March, in which Ireland, Wales and Asturias will also participate.

Scotland and Brittany are two players at the forefront of floating wind development in Europe. The two territories have the advantage of having floating wind projects leased with ScotWind, the AO5 and the future AO9, as well as specialist companies. They also have complementary supply chains and similar issues concerning the development of their port infrastructures.

By joining their strengths, Brittany and Scotland are seeking to consolidate their leadership on the European scene through collaboration on the French and Scottish markets and more generally in Europe. In order to create partnerships between SMEs in the two territories, the Brittany and Scottish clusters Bretagne Ocean Power and DeepWind are organising exchanges to enable companies to pool and strengthen their complementarity.

On Wednesday 8th February 2023, a Brittany-Scotland business day dedicated to floating wind turbines was organised at the Ille et Vilaine CCI. It marks a new stage in the collaboration between Scotland and Brittany where business opportunities have been identified. Breton companies in the sector were able to meet a delegation of fifteen Scottish companies, as well as Skyborn Renewables, Vattenfall and BlueFloat Energy: two of them (Vattenfall & BlueFloat Energy) are already ScotWind winners for a cumulative total of about 3 GW in Scotland. The three players are also candidates for the various tenders in France, including the AO5 in Southern Brittany, within the same consortium.
 "With nearly 100 participants, including 15 Scottish companies, we organised more than 130 meetings generating interesting business opportunities for Breton companies," says Philippe Thieffry, Head of Mission for Brittany Ocean Power.

This day was also an opportunity to exchange on the reality of the opportunities of offshore hydrogen.

Creation of a partnership between Brittany and Scotland

The links between Brittany and Scotland are historic. Recently, the President of the Brittany Region and Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, had the opportunity to discuss energy issues during the COP26, the UN conference on climate change in Glasgow. In the margins of this conference, a first webinar allowed companies from both territories to open partnerships and identify opportunities in both areas and globally.

In 2022, at the FOWT (Floating Offshore Wind Turbine) exhibition, Daniel Cueff, Vice President for the Sea and Coastal Affairs in charge of Offshore wind and marine energies and Ivan McKee, Scottish Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise continued the exchanges to strengthen the collaboration between their two territories.

This 8 February 2023 marks a new stage in the collaboration between Scotland and Brittany. Exchanges will continue on 9 and 10 March in Lorient, within the framework of the Celtic Summit, in which Ireland, Wales and Asturias will also participate.