Salamander, a joint venture between Ørsted, Simply Blue Group and Subsea7, has signed an exclusivity agreement as part of Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round. With the Exclusivity Agreement in place, the project will start offshore wind development work while Marine Scotland’s planning process for the INTOG Sectoral Marine Plan (INTOG SMP) is completed. The INTOG round was split into two pots – one for smaller scale innovation projects of 100 MW or less and one for larger projects linked to oil and gas infrastructure. Salamander was successful in the innovation route. A series of public consultations are set to be held by the Salamander floating offshore wind project next month.