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Released November 24, 2025 | GALWAY, IRELAND
Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)
Summary
Shell plc (London, England) has abandoned two major offshore wind projects in the U.K. as the company continues its withdrawal from previous renewable energy commitments.
Shell's Retreat from Renewables
Shell plc's (London, England) scaling down of renewable energy investment continues with the company's decision to abandon two of the world's largest planned floating offshore wind projects in Scotland.
These include the 3-gigawatt (GW) MarramWind project and the 2-GW CampionWind project, both located off the east coast of Scotland. Both projects would have been able to supply around 5 million homes with power and had a combined investment of almost £18 billion (US$23.7 billion). The decision comes just weeks after Shell effectively exited the U.S. offshore wind sector when its subsidiary, Shell New Energies (The Hague, Netherlands), withdrew from Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a 50:50 joint venture with Electricité de France (EDF) (Paris, France) that was developing offshore wind projects off the coast of New Jersey and New York.
Future of Both Projects
Shell was working on both the MarramWind and CampionWind projects with Scottish Renewables (Belfast, Northern Ireland), part of Spanish energy major Iberdrola (Bilbao, Spain). In a share swap, Scottish Renewables will take on Shell's 50% in MarramWind and continue with the project alone, while ceding its shares in CampionWind to Shell. Shell has returned the lease it won for CampionWind in 2022 to the leasing body Crown Estate Scotland. MarramWind wind will be capable of supplying enough power for approximately 3 million homes, if developed.
"After a comprehensive review and in line with Shell's previously announced refocusing of its power strategy on leveraging Shell's strengths in trading and retailing, the conclusion was to not take the CampionWind project forward. Shell therefore returned the lease option to Crown Estate Scotland (CES)", a spokesperson for Shell said in a statement to offshoreWIND.biz. "Shell believes that returning the CampionWind lease to CES will offer the best opportunity for any potential future the site may have. Substantial pre-investment work has already been undertaken to de-risk the site, which Shell hopes will support any possible future."
Floating Offshore Development Quickens
Floating offshore windfarms remain a niche part of the overall offshore wind segment but the sector is growing quickly and the size of proposed projects dwarf the original floating offshore projects in operation today. Scotland is already home to the world's first floating offshore windfarm, Hywind Scotland, which was commissioned by developer Equinor (Stavanger, Norway) in 2017 with a capacity of 30 megawatts (MW). The world's largest floating operation is Equinor's sister facility, Hywind Tampen, with a capacity of 94.6 MW in the Norwegian North Sea.
Offshore Wind in Scotland
In 2022, Scotland's first offshore wind leasing round - ScotWind - took place. More than 20 offshore projects were awarded leases with a combined capacity of almost 30 GW. Floating offshore projects accounted for more than half. The race is now on to see who can build the first project of more than 1 GW. In September, Industrial Info reported that Buchan Offshore Wind (Edinburgh, Scotland) was seeking a planning permit for its floating offshore windfarm located 75 kilometers (km) to the northeast of Fraserburgh on the Aberdeenshire coast. For additional information, see September 15, 2025, article--Permits Sought for Giant Scottish Floating Offshore Windfarm. Industrial Info is tracking 25 floating offshore windfarm projects in the U.K. worth more than US$80 billion in investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.
Key Takeaways
- Shell continues retreat from renewable energy projects by quitting two major floating offshore wind projects in the U.K.
- MarramWind and CampionWind could power 5 million homes
- U.K.'s floating offshore wind sector is growing quickly but it still needs its first large-scale project
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