Half of the turbines are now in place at what will soon become Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm, as the construction of Seagreen continues off the Angus coast.
In an update this week developer SSE Renewables said 57 of the project’s 114 Vestas V164-10MW turbines are now installed.
Built by a joint venture of SSE Renewables (49%) and TotalEnergies (51%), the £3 billion, 1.1 gigawatt (GW) project is currently under construction around 17 miles off the coast of Angus.
Since 2021, parts for the turbines, including blades, nacelles, and the supporting towers have arrived from Vestas’ base at Able Seaton Port in Hartlepool.
Of the 114 blade sets due to be installed at Seagreen, 99 sets – or 297 blades in total – are being produced domestically at Vestas’ manufacturing facility in the Isle of Wight.
Meanwhile, jacket foundations have been marshalled at the Port of Nigg in the Cromarty Firth and brought south by barge for installation, though they were fabricated in the UAE and China.
Sixty-three of these foundation substructures are now in place. The three-legged jacket foundations each weigh approx. 2,000 tonnes and play a critical role in safely supporting the wind turbines during Seagreen’s 25-year lifespan.
That is especially vital given the project is also currently the world’s deepest fixed bottom offshore wind farm, with several foundations installed in water depths in excess of 55 metres.
SSE reported this week that the deepest fixed-bottom turbine ever installed to date was placed at a depth of 57.4 metres, and Seagreen will beat its own record when another turbine is installed at an even greater depth in early 2023.
As of August, the scheme has already begun delivering power, but when fully operational, it will be capable of generating some 5,000 GWh of renewable energy per year – enough clean to power more than 1.6 million UK homes.
Seagreen project director John Hill said: “Reaching the halfway point in turbine installation is yet another testament to the dedication and determination of everyone on the team at the Seagreen Wind Farm project.
“Our milestone announcements are coming thick and fast which just shows the good progress we are making to the windfarm being operational in the first half of 2023 when Seagreen will make a significant contribution to Scotland’s and the UK’s net zero targets.”
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