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Floating Offshore Wind Development in the Baltic Sea
About SeaSapphire
SeaSapphire, powered by Eolus and Simply Blue Group, will utilise innovative and cutting-edge floating offshore wind technologies to produce zero-carbon electricity in 4 wind parks in Sweden and Finland. The development aims to be a stepping stone to help Sweden and Finland progress towards a net-zero future and handle the increasing demand for electricity.
SeaSapphire propose to develop four floating wind projects Herkules, Skidbladner in Sweden and Wellamo and an undisclosed project in Finland. The projects are in the consenting stage and in parallel, a strong focus is put on supply chain development to provide opportunities for local job creation and commercial scale alternatives use of energy opportunities in Sweden and Finland.
The projects are estimated to produce up to 40TWh/year which contributes to Sweden’s and Finland’s need to increase energy production capacity for the foreseeable future and at the same time maximise financial benefits and generate long term jobs for its local communities.
Floating Offshore Wind
Floating wind foundations are normally used in deep waters where fixed foundations are no longer economically feasible. WindEurope estimates 80% of the wind resource in Europe is in waters beyond 60 m deep. Therefore, floating wind is going to play a key role in the development of offshore wind pipelines in many countries including Sweden and Finland.
An additional benefit with floating wind is that the wind parks can be located further off the coastline where wind conditions in most cases are better, the disturbance on shipping and fishing is less, the environmental impact is lower and the visibility from the coastline is less.
The 4 projects aim at bringing commercial and industrial large scale benefits to Sweden and Finland by establishing industry grade industrial development for the supply of the technologies and benefit from the anticipated growth of the market for floating offshore wind.
for 2030:
(hundreds of thousands of homes)
Alternative use of Marine Space
Seaweed farming can provide a sustainable healthy food source easily incorporated into most foods and can also be used for bio-fuels production. Seaweed is fast growing, fix carbon, phosphorus and nitrates, produce oxygen and has a carbon negative footprint.
An offshore wind park can host seaweed farms and contribute to the build up of an industry for both nutrients and biomass that has a negative carbon footprint
SeaSapphire aim at exploring the potential of using the marine space in the parks for seaweed farming and will work with local companies, universities and researchers to evaluate the potential in the Baltic Sea.
Alternative use of Produced Energy
SeaSapphire has the ambition to explore the establishment of e-Fuels production close to the wind parks in collaboration with local stakeholders. e-Fuels e.g. hydrogen, green ammonia, HVO, Sustainable Aviation Fuel, e-methanol; can be produced with the electricity generated from wind parks, water and CO2 from the air. In contrast to conventional fuels, they do not release additional CO2 and are climate neutral in the entire balance.
Thanks to their compatibility with today’s internal combustion engines, e-Fuels can be used as “drop-in” fuels in hard to abate sectors like aviation, marine transport and chemical production and will enable re-use of existing oil and gas infrastructure to be transitioned from fossil based to sustainable fuel production and storage. This enables us to manage limitations in curtailment, electrical grid infrastructure constraints and variability of renewable energy which may affect electrical grid robustness and stability.
Project Goals
The projects will contribute with up to 40TWh/year to Sweden’s and Finland’s energy production targets of an estimated 240TWh additional energy production capacity needed by 2045.
We will explore alternative and sustainable ways to use the produced energy and the marine space used by the parks. We will seek collaboration with local research organisations, innovation initiatives, universities and industries to explore the potential for e-Fuels, Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) and Seaweed farming.
We are dedicated to developing sustainable and transformative projects, working with the seas, and enabling communities to benefit from the projects. Therefore, we commit to having a continuous and strong stakeholder and community engagement to develop sustainable jobs and supply chains related to floating offshore wind as well as exploring alternative use of energy production capacity and use of marine space.
Our Projects
About the Partnership
SeaSapphire brings together a strong partnership to help unlock Sweden’s and Finland’s floating offshore wind potential. The partnership is comprised of Eolus, a leader of wind power development in the Nordics since 30 years and Simply Blue Group, a leading Irish “Glocal” blue economy developer in floating offshore wind, wave energy, e-Fuels and sustainable aquaculture for the past 10 years.
Eolus
Eolus is one of the leading developers of renewable energy in the Nordics and are active in the whole value chain from development of green field projects to construction and operation of renewable projects. Eolus offers attractive and competitive investments in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Poland and the United States. The total project portfolio adds up to over 17 GW.
Simply Blue Group
Headquartered in Cork (Ireland), and with offices around the world, is a leading early stage developer of sustainable and transformative marine projects that work with the oceans and enable communities to benefit from blue growth. Simply Blue Group’s projects cover floating wind energy, wave energy, e-Fuels and CCS and sustainable aquaculture. The mission is to raise awareness of the oceans’ potential, pioneer marine project development and collaborate with partners to build a sustainable blue economy and communities. Simply Blue Group has a portfolio of floating wind power projects of more than 10GW.
The SeaSapphire Team
Portfolio Director
Portfolio Director
Magnus is an experienced industry leader and investor with 10 years as President of GE Energy (Sweden)AB and GE Digital/Grid Solutions with an overall responsibility to manage the onshore wind power project portfolio, Gas Turbine assets and development of the grid technology business. Prior to joining GE, Magnus was the founding partner of Sustainable Growth Associates and Investors GmbH with a focus on market development and investments in renewable energy SME companies.
Offshore Project Manager in Finland
Offshore Project Manager in Finland
Anu Vaahtera joined Eolus in June -22 and works as Offshore Project Manager in Finland. Before joining Eolus, she was working for Gaia Consulting as a leading consultant and project director in large multi-client projects in the renewables, marine industries and logistics sectors. She has experience in offshore wind in the Nordic regions such as foundations development, public relations and business development. She has two degrees, one in Environmental and Resource Management and the other in Social Sciences.
Offshore Project Manager
Offshore Project Manager
Greta Aurell joined Eolus in August 2022. Formerly she has worked within the paper-and pulp industry and in the real estate sector with questions regarding energy optimization. She has a Master of Science degree in Energy and Environmental Engineering.
Offshore Project Manager
Offshore Project Manager
Josefin Wildstam joined Eolus in January 2023 and works as Offshore Project Manager in Malmö, Sweden. Prior to joining Eolus, Josefin as an environmental consultant, most recently at Sweco. Josefin has previous experience in project management and worked in areas such as permitting and Environmental Impact Assessment for offshore wind projects. She has a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering.
Project Controls Manager
Project Controls Manager
José Soares works at Simply Blue Group as a Project Control Manager.
Prior to join the Sea Sapphire team, José worked in industrial context as a Quality, Environmental and H&S Manager in a Cork product manufacturer and in academia in a varied number of positions, at Uppsala University. He has a background in Industrial Engineering and Master in Wind Power Project Management.
Offshore Project Manager
Offshore Project Manager
Joanna Moberg joined Eolus in February 2023 as Offshore Project Manager, based in Malmö. For the past 6 years, she has worked as a senior environmental consultant on marine infrastructure projects, including offshore wind power, export cables and pipelines. She has experience in permitting process from both a national and international perspective.
Technical Manager, Sweden & Finland
Technical Manager, Sweden & Finland
Technical expert with 5 years of experience as responsible for floating offshore wind and synergetic business at the Research Institute of Sweden (RISE) engaged in different projects related to research on offshore wind projects ranging from platform technologies, grid balancing, control systems and synergetic technologies. Prior to joining RISE, Mats was CTO and engineering consultant at Flowocean, Siemens Gamesa, GE and Scanwind for 10years.
