Moray FLOW-Park

Developed by OSG, and recognised as a global industry first, the Moray FLOW-Park aims to provide temporary wet storage for FLOW assets – namely the foundation base units – thus optimising risk management and logistics during the wider logistics processes of assembly, wind turbine generation (WTG) integration and deployment.

The Moray Firth was selected as the UK’s first FLOW-Park location after an extensive 3-year process of surveys, technical assessments and industry interaction, including with the Scottish Government, industry regulators, ports and wind farm developers.

The Exclusivity Agreement from Crown Estate Scotland provides a framework to allow OSG and its Scottish-registered subsidiary, FLOW-Park Investment Ltd, to continue to assess the long-term suitability of the location and progress the development of the proposed FLOW-Park.

We understand the concerns and reasonable questions that we may negatively impact the local community including businesses linked to tourism or marine activities. We believe we can deliver a development that is sensitive to the location and has minimal impact, but words are not enough so we have four specific areas of local value.

1. Within the expansive consultations and environmental impact assessment we will have specialists look very carefully at any potential impact and any required mitigation strategies.
2. We will create a substantive local community fund, to provide direct and meaningful benefit to the communities closest to the Moray FLOW-Park. supported over the long-term by the Moray FLOW-Park, that will be managed by the local community and targeted to local needs. During consultation we will be listening to all parties on how best to deliver this.
3. We will base our main operational management centre locally, within the Findhorn to Burghead area, and deliver high-value long-term local jobs.

Whilst our independent local value assessment provides a lifetime FTE number of ~1,200 we appreciate that this technical term used by Government agencies is unclear. In plain language, we expect to deliver c. 60 full-time permanent local jobs during normal operations with a much higher number during the construction phases.

4. We have identified ~£82m of activity (equipment & services) within the wider project GVA value of ~£126m, that we believe companies within the local area and wider region can support and deliver on including:

• Anchors and mooring equipment
• Safety & security equipment
• Marine supplies
• Marine support
• Local support base operations & support
• Local management & control base operations and support
• Operational support personnel
• Control base personnel

We are open to a wide range of ideas and welcome these during the open consultation during 2026.

The Moray FLOW-Park is a local development that is fully committed to maximising long-term local value and ensuring that local communities receive tangible benefits from the floating wind opportunity off their coastline.

The area covered by the Exclusivity Agreement for the Moray FLOW-Park is split into two separate zones, designated as ‘North’ and ‘South’. These are the areas that we have chosen to investigate further for their potential suitability. These are not the full extent of the area required for final development, which will be smaller.

The final area required for final development is only a small proportion of the area required for investigation and as the project progresses from these very early stages the final area required will become much clearer.

However, we understand how the above map could lead to potential misconceptions. We have therefore taken the latest technical analysis and demand assessments to provide an update.

The area of ongoing investigation is now restricted to the North area only and we have no ongoing plans to continue investigations of the South area. This has already reduced the area of investigation by c. 60%.

All ongoing activities are now focused on the North Area to determine what proportion of the investigation area is to be developed and how best to accommodate the needs and requests of key stakeholders (fishers, leisure, etc.). This ‘micro-siting’ activity will heavily influence the final layout and configuration.

The exact size, positioning and configuration of the final development, as a proportion of the site investigation area, will be decided AFTER extensive consultation with key stakeholders and the completion of detailed technical analysis.

For clarity, temporary seasonal storage of foundation bases is the only activity being considered for the Moray FLOW-Park.

The Moray FLOW-Park is designed to provide temporary, seasonal wet storage safe anchorage for floating wind assets to enhance the assembly and integration process efficiency and de-risk the associated logistics that are impacted by weather and metocean conditions.

• Temporary – Activities are part of a wider logistics chain of movements. Current modelling suggests most foundations assets will be stored for a period of 5-27 days before moving away for integration (adding of tower, turbine and blades) and then straight to their final installation.
• Seasonal – Activities are heavily influenced by the weather and metocean conditions both locally and offshore. The current logistics model using local weather and metocean data indicates that peak usage (currently estimated at c. 22 units) of the FLOW-Park is likely to be around January/February, tapering off to zero usage in late spring and not starting again until early Autumn. Note that this is all weather/metocean dependent.

The number of assets on location at any one time will be determined by several factors, including the number of floating wind projects under assembly and integration in local ports/yards, available space in local ports/yards, the availability of tugs to move assets, and the prevailing weather and metocean conditions.

A unique and advanced Management and Control System (M&CS), has been developed specifically for FLOW-Parks, and this will be deployed in the Moray FLOW-Park. The M&CS consists of several key elements including self-powered safety and security buoys fitted with an advanced sensor and communications suite. Specialist FLOW-Monitors will be fitted to each asset when parked, and a 24/7/365 manned local control centre will be in place. The M&CS works in close conjunction with local harbour masters, pilots, coastguard and regulatory bodies to provide enhanced safety and security for the floating assets, local users of the sea (commercial and leisure), and the wider environment.

The M&CS has been specifically designed to maximise safety and security, minimising risk to all parties and stakeholders, whilst reducing the direct impact of the FLOW-Park to other users of the sea.