Floating wind is moving from proving what is possible to building the industry capable of delivering it at scale. Our 2026 programme of stakeholder visits to the Kincardine offshore windfarm explored beyond the turbines offshore: bringing together the ports, technologies, engineers and researchers shaping the next generation of floating wind.
Over the past few years, Flotation Energy has been bringing people from across the industry together to experience floating offshore wind first hand, by facilitating guided trips to Kincardine.
The trips began with the simple aim of taking people offshore to visit the windfarm and experience one of the first operational floating offshore windfarms. As the industry has evolved and floating wind projects have progressed, the programme that we offer for our stakeholders has broadened.
For our guests, a visit to the Kincardine offshore windfarm site remains the focal point, but we also worked with a wider group of organisations involved in the technologies, infrastructure, engineering and research needed to deliver the next generation of floating projects, giving them the opportunity to showcase their expertise.
Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) joined one of the scheduled Flotation Energy visits to the Kincardine offshore windfarm
From demonstrating the possible to showing what comes next
Developed by the founders of Flotation Energy, the 50MW Kincardine project was a landmark demonstration of floating offshore wind and remains the world’s largest grid-connection floating wind project. Seeing its turbines operating offshore provides an immediate sense of the scale and ambition of the technology, and of the engineering and operational experience required to make it work.
Following last year’s visits we explored why Flotation Energy continues to bring people to the project and what visitors take away from seeing floating wind in operation. This purpose remains central to the visits, but with floating wind now moving towards commercial-scale deployment, we wanted this year’s guests to understand how the supply chain will support projects of this scale.
A wider view of the floating wind supply chain
As projects move from development towards construction, the number of organisations involved, and the range of capabilities required, grows significantly.
That is why this year’s schedule expanded beyond Kincardine to include visits and collaborations across the wider supply chain and supporting infrastructure. The programme also included presentations from those at the cutting edge of innovation in both commercial and research and development sectors:
Dynamic cables
Cable technology is a critical part of making floating wind commercially viable, with developers and suppliers working to address the challenges created by moving platforms, dynamic loading and harsh offshore conditions.
Siemens Energy, Quoceant and Viper Innovations delivered talks covering the newly fully qualified 66 kV wet mate connectors, the Q-Connect quick connection system for dynamic power cables, and state of the art cable monitoring systems to support improved cable installation and operation and maintenance processes.
These presentations were accompanied by an insightful visit to the Balmoral Comtec cable ancillaries factory.
Anchors and moorings
Mooring systems, connections and anchors are another key area of innovation, providing the connection between floating platforms and the seabed while allowing turbines to withstand challenging offshore conditions. Crondall Energy, Encomara and Subsea Micropiles discussed novel anchoring designs, the Squid mooring and cable connection/disconnection technology to improve installation durations and de-risk offshore operations, and the new SafeMoor holistic platform monitoring solution.
These presentations were complimented by a hugely popular tour of the Port of Montrose where the sheer scale of the space needed to accommodate floating offshore wind components can be visualised. The Seagreen and Inchape O&M bases were visited during the tour, alongside anchoring solutions from Subsea Micropiles and Intermoor.
Research and development
R&D is helping to push the boundaries of what is possible in floating offshore wind. We heard from ORE Catapult thematic research topic leads on dynamic cables, Mooring and anchoring, environmental interactions and construction, pperations and maintenance on their cutting-edge research projects supporting the development of the industry. These presentations were supported by a visit to and tour of the Floating Offshore Wind Innovation Centre where state of the art technology testing takes place.
Remote operations
Another area of increasing interest is remote operations as development moves further offshore and with a view to minimising health and safety concerns when personnel are offshore. Fugro provided a demonstration of their industry-leading remote operations and ROV capabilities, at their Remote Operations Centre, showcasing the applicability of these technologies in supporting the delivery of offshore renewable energy projects.
The opportunity offered by the floating offshore wind industry extends throughout the supply chain creating opportunities for established businesses to adapt their capabilities and for new technologies and companies to emerge.
The role of ports in making projects happen
The visit to Port of Aberdeen offered an opportunity to look at how Scotland’s existing maritime and industrial infrastructure can support the energy transition, and how investment in that infrastructure can create benefits that extend beyond individual projects.
Floating wind is not simply about proving that a wind turbine can float. It is about creating the industrial capacity to deliver hundreds of floating turbines from concept to operation and maintenance, in some of the most challenging offshore environments.
To ensure that the UK can service and maintain floating offshore wind turbines throughout their operational life, major component replacement (MCR) must be enabled and managed at scale, where tow back to shore is required. The idea of shared MCR infrastructure in Scotland has recently been evolving through collaboration across the sector and is supported by an understanding that this type of infrastructure is too capital intensive to deliver in isolation. With compelling statistics from Port of Aberdeen, combined with our own experience and ideas for innovation, we walked several stakeholders through our collaborative idea for a Scottish-based MCR-Hub and the economic and industrial benefits that this would provide.
For a region with a long history of offshore energy, this is particularly significant. The skills, companies, vessels, engineering expertise and industrial infrastructure developed through decades of offshore activity provide a strong foundation for the next phase of the energy transition.
Read a select number of testimonials for the stakeholder visits below:
”Fantastic session that was well structured. What was particularly useful was the themed supply chain sessions, along with interaction with the relevant Flotation Energy personnel."
Crondall Energy Consultants | Joel Maisey
”Thank you to Barrie and all the team at Flotation Energy for their time and looking after us so well....delighted to have the visit to Catapult Innovation Centre and meet the team there included in the wider itinerary. Definitely something I will be encouraging those in my network in OW to attend in future Kincardine visits."
Enterprise Ireland | Aileen Cussen
”Really well organised trip, my thanks to the team at Flotation. The visit to Port of Aberdeen south harbour was a really interesting addition to the wind farm visit and together both parts of the trip told a really compelling story about the potential the sector has.”
RenewableUK | Luke Clark
”What a privilege and amazing experience...It was fascinating to see our CTV rocking up and down like a roller coaster while the turbines were just lazily standing there...I’ve seen this countless times in my numerical models, but seeing it in real life puts the numbers into perspective.”
Deepwater Wind Policy Advisor at Great British Energy | Daniel Milano
Taking the story beyond the industry
Building on previous years engagement with the press, this year’s programme also welcomed UK and international journalists for a trip in collaboration with RenewableUK and Port of Aberdeen.
International visitors included a notable delegation from Taiwan, comprising of think tank representatives, policy analysts and researchers. To read more here, visit the Chu Tin offshore wind project site.
Irrespective of where one is visiting from, a trip to Kincardine offers the perfect opportunity to showcase floating offshore wind technology and build an understanding of what it is and what it can offer. Delivering this trip would not have been possible without the support of Renewable UK and Port of Aberdeen, but more than that, it also provides the opportunity to demonstrate the importance of collaboration between organisations to capitalise on wider benefits that the industry can bring and why floating offshore wind matters.
Building on experience
To remain relevant and continue to bring value, our Kincardine visits must evolve alongside the industry itself. Kincardine demonstrated floating wind in operation. The next challenge is to take that experience and apply it at an increasing scale across the next generation of our projects: White Cross will de-risk it; Green Volt will commercialise it; and Cenos will industrialise it.
No single organisation can build a floating wind industry, and indeed no single company can deliver the trips to Kincardine. None of this would have been possible without the support of the many organisations already mentioned as well as other local suppliers – including 210 Bistro for their lunches and dinners, Clarkson’s for taxi transfers and the fabulous vessel crew from Turner Iceni. A huge thank you goes out to you all.
