German agriculture and energy firm BayWa r.e. said on Wednesday it joined the existing consortium of Belgian renewable energy company Elicio and French floating wind technology developer Ideol “in the progression of a joint bid for the ScotWind leasing round recently launched by Crown Estate Scotland.”

Last month Crown Estate Scotland, the manager of Scotland’s seabed, announced the launch of the first round of offshore wind leasing in Scottish waters for a decade. 

The move represents a multi-billion pound investment opportunity.

The round, called ScotWind Leasing, enables companies to apply to build Scotland’s new generation of offshore wind farms.

Crown Estate Scotland said total investment in ScotWind Leasing projects could potentially surpass £8 billion and the ScotWind project could deliver more than enough green electricity to power every Scottish household .

“With this new partnership, BayWa r.e. brings significant project development and asset management skills and presence in Scotland to strengthen the existing consortium established between Ideol, a global leader in floating wind, and Elicio, a leading offshore wind farm developer and operator in the Belgian North Sea,” said BayWa r.e.

Paul de la Guérivière, CEO of Ideol, said: “With this consortium, we bring together a unique array of corporate and individual capability; we believe that our respective track-records and experience of project delivery in offshore wind, wind project development in Scotland and locally constructible floating wind expertise render our joint efforts particularly credible and we are confident we can demonstrate clear and significant positive local economic impacts.”

Alain Janssens, CEO of Elicio, said: “The combined and very complementary know-how of our three major companies will undoubtedly contribute to a competitive and risk-managed delivery of projects with a uniquely high local footprint.”

Matthias Taft, CEO of BayWa r.e., said: “We are delighted to join forces with Elicio and Ideol, and to jointly drive forward innovation in the Scottish offshore wind sector.

“Our commitment to growing in the Scottish onshore wind market is clear after our first decade of project realisation.

“We now look forward to moving into Scottish offshore waters in the next decade and creating further jobs and value for the local supply chain.”