Subsea 7 bags contract worth up to £600m for work on Seagreen 1A offshore wind farm

Subsea 7 (OSLO: SUBC) has struck a “very large” agreement for work on a major Scottish offshore wind farm.

Seaway 7, the renewables wing of the energy services firm, has been picked as a preferred supplier for the Seagreen 1A project, off the coast of Angus.

It is located adjacent to the existing Seagreen project, which is on course to be Scotland’s largest and is currently being progressed by Seaway 7.

Seagreen 1A represents around 500 megawatts (MW) of additional renewable energy generation capacity.

While the scope of work is still to be finalised, it is likely Seaway 7 will provide the full engineering, fabrication, transport and installation of 36 foundations.

It may also be responsible for transporting and installing the offshore substation, and the procurement and installation of inner-array cables.

Execution of the project – due to get underway in 2023, with offshore work commencing in late 2024 – will be led from Seaway 7’s Aberdeen office.

Seagreen 1A could be operational as soon as 2025/26.

The timeframe and Seaway 7’s selection are subject to the project securing consent and a final investment decision by developers SSE Renewables and TotalEnergies.

A value for the agreement wasn’t given, but Subsea 7 regards it as “very large”, meaning it is worth between £399 million and £599m.

It will be accounted for in Seaway 7’s backlog once final contractual terms have been struck.

© SSE Renewables/ Ken le Grice

John Evans, chief executive of Subsea 7, said: “We are very pleased to be continuing our proactive participation in the UK’s ongoing energy transition and we look forward to extending our long-term collaboration with SSE Renewables, which began in 2009 with the pioneering Greater Gabbard development and continued with Beatrice, Seagreen and Dogger Bank.”

Due to restricted capacity, 36 of the Seagreen turbines, which have been consented but aren’t under construction, will be hooked up to a 360 megawatt (MW) connection at Cockenzie in East Lothian.

The Seagreen 1A project comprises the infrastructure to connect the remaining turbines to the grid.

It consists of an offshore cable corridor from the wind farm to Cockenzie, as well as plans for landfall, the onshore cable corridor and the onshore substation.

Stuart Fitzgerald, chief executive of Seaway 7, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our successful relationship with SSE Renewables and TotalEnergies to progress the Seagreen 1A project. The project will continue to be managed from our office in Aberdeen where we are bringing over a decade of UK offshore wind expertise to Scotland’s largest offshore wind project.”