New north-east renewables jobs to be created as part of Ocean Winds recruitment drive

More new jobs are to be created in the north-east as work on a North Sea offshore wind farm ramps up.

Ocean Winds (OW) is creating more than 20 new posts, including apprenticeships, in Fraserburgh for the operations and maintenance (O&M) phase of its Moray East offshore wind farm.

That’s in addition to the approximately 60 positions the firm has indicated will be needed to service the development’s 100 turbines.

While the construction teams aren’t due to hand over the wind farm until next year, OW said recruitment is needed now to build and train the O&M team.

The existing marine co-ordination crew in Fraserburgh will be absorbed into O&M, with the construction of a new facility in the town’s harbour allowing all staff to work from the same purpose-built facility.

OW is a 50:50 offshore wind joint-venture, owned and created by Spain’s EDPR and France’ ENGIE in 2019.

The firm is the majority stakeholder in Moray East, which is currently under construction in the outer Moray Firth.

It is due to become fully operational in 2022 and will provide enough green energy to power 950,000 homes.

The turbines for Moray East are currently being assembled at Global Energy Group’s Nigg facility.

© Malcolm McCurrach

Upon completion, it will hold the honour of being Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm until it is leapfrogged by the 114-turbine Seagreen development, due to become operation in 2022/23.

In addition to the jobs being created in Fraserburgh, OW is also expanding the team at its UK headquarters in Edinburgh.

Around 10 positions are currently being filled in the project team for the Moray West offshore wind farm, which, having secured planning consent in 2019, is currently awaiting a Contracts for Difference (CfD) award.

OW is also looking to recruit eight interns interested in gaining an insight and understanding of the variety of roles needed to drive the sector to deliver the ambitious targets for offshore wind set out in the Offshore Wind Sector Deal.

Moreover, the firm has just launched its graduate recruitment programme for 2021, with international placements for the 15 selected.

© Supplied by Ocean Winds

Dan Finch, OW UK director, said: “I am delighted that we are growing the recruitment for the O&M phase of Moray East, currently Scotland’s largest infrastructure project.

“The lead in to the O&M phase will see a new part of the team growing around our state-of-the-art base in Fraserburgh. Despite the challenges caused by COVID-19 this recruitment is in addition to ongoing recruitment in the Edinburgh office as the projects mature and we prepare for new projects.

“This is good news for Scottish jobs and demonstrates the positive impact that our offshore wind farms are having in Scotland’s capital city and coastal communities.

“I am confident that we’ll secure further projects through the ScotWind leasing round that will require additional recruitment to develop those new projects and ultimately new O&M teams based in relevant ports.

“With the right government signals through the next CfD auction and as part of the post-COVID-19 Green Recovery we are ready to bring the necessary large amounts of private funding to deliver a pipeline of major energy infrastructure projects that will help deliver Net Zero as well as jobs and a range of local socio-economic benefits. Moray West is primed and ready. Success in ScotWind will ensure our track record of positive impact in Scotland can be accelerated.”