Fred. Olsen Seawind Takes Full Control of Muir Mhòr

Fred. Olsen Seawind buys Vattenfall's 50% stake in Muir Mhòr, becoming sole developer of Scotland's 1 GW floating wind project

1 Jun 2026

Sixty-three kilometres off Aberdeenshire, where the North Atlantic offers little comfort and considerable depth, a Norwegian company has decided it no longer needs a partner. Fred. Olsen Seawind, a subsidiary of Bonheur ASA, has acquired Vattenfall's 50% share in Muir Mhòr, a one-gigawatt floating offshore wind development that remains years from producing a single unit of power.

Vattenfall's departure fits a pattern. Across Europe, large utilities are retreating from floating wind, which demands deep pockets and longer time horizons than fixed-bottom projects. Capital discipline, as the industry euphemistically calls it, has become the dominant logic. Floating wind's costs remain stubbornly high: the UK's seventh Contract for Difference allocation round set strike prices for floating wind at £216.46 per MWh in January 2026, a figure that leaves thin room for error.

Fred. Olsen Seawind frames sole ownership as an operational advantage. CEO Maren S. Lundby confirmed the company is working with the Scottish Government and the National Energy System Operator "to secure offshore consent and an accelerated grid connection date." Unified decision-making does simplify grid negotiations, supply chain contracts, and subsidy bid preparation. Whether that efficiency justifies the concentrated risk is a separate question.

Bonheur's century-long history in Scottish industry, from shipping to offshore oil to onshore wind, offers the company genuine supply chain depth. Muir Mhòr holds seabed rights from the 2022 ScotWind round and gained onshore consent in 2025. Offshore consent remains outstanding, and a CfD bid in an early allocation round is the target for a project aiming at commercial operations in the early 2030s.

Scotland is frequently described as the centrepiece of Europe's floating wind ambitions. Muir Mhòr, at gigawatt scale in deepwater conditions, sits at that frontier's exposed edge. The ownership change signals conviction. What follows, specifically offshore consent and a successful CfD bid, will determine whether that conviction was well placed.