The 92.5 MW Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm in Scotland has secured a Contract for Difference (CfD) in the UK Government’s seventh allocation round, providing a revenue framework for the project as it moves towards a final investment decision.
The project is planned off the coast of Dounreay in Caithness, with construction and development work expected to progress towards an investment decision in 2027 and generation targeted for 2030.
Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) is leading development for Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), which has majority ownership of the project through funds managed by the investment firm. Highland Wind Limited is the project company.
The CfD award is an important step for a floating wind project because it provides a mechanism for securing a long-term electricity price, reducing exposure to wholesale market volatility and helping developers establish a basis for the next stages of project financing.
Pentland is intended to demonstrate the use of floating wind technology in deeper waters off Scotland. Rather than fixing turbines directly to the seabed, floating foundations allow wind turbines to operate where water depths make conventional fixed-bottom foundations less practical.
Pentland has also received public sector backing. In November 2025, the National Wealth Fund, Great British Energy and the Scottish National Investment Bank invested in the project, joining existing partners Eurus Energy UK and minority shareholder Hexicon.
The project will incorporate floating foundation technology being developed for larger turbines. Stiesdal Offshore’s TetraSub foundation, designed for turbines above 15 MW, has been selected for Pentland. TetraSub builds on experience from the TetraSpar demonstrator, which recently completed almost five years of offshore testing in Norway.
The CfD award therefore connects Pentland with the wider development of floating wind technology, providing a route from demonstration-scale projects towards commercial deployment.
The project will now move through further development, consenting, supply-chain and financing work ahead of the planned 2027 investment decision. If delivered to schedule, Pentland would begin operating in 2030 and add 92.5 MW of floating offshore wind capacity to the UK system.
