Foundations for the country’s largest wind farm off the Angus coast have arrived in Scotland.
The first jacket superstructures, destined for the 1.1GW Seagreen project, have arrived at Port of Nigg in the Cromarty Firth.
The structures are due to be installed in the North Sea, 27km off the coast of Angus.
Work to take 12 months
The delivery kickstarts the upcoming campaign to install 114 wind turbine foundations at the project site off the Angus coast.
After jacket foundations are installed, Vestas V164-10 MW turbines will be positioned on each of the turbine bases.
The work will take around 12 months and is supporting up to 141 skilled jobs at Port of Nigg.
The Seagreen wind farm is also bringing new jobs to Angus, including at the Port of Montrose.
SSE Renewables is leading development and construction of the joint project, supported by TotalEnergies, and will operate Seagreen on completion.
SSE Renewables director of capital projects Paul Cooley said: “This is a landmark occasion.
“It is a fantastic opportunity to draw attention to not only the progress that the Seagreen project is making but also the benefits that Scotland’s largest wind farm is bringing to Scotland’s economy and supply chain.
“At SSE Renewables we’re proud to be leading the construction of Seagreen and the benefits it is bringing to Scotland.”
Steve Rose, director of health and safety at TotalEnergies E&P UK said: “To see these jackets ready to be installed and become part of Scotland’s largest wind farm is a real thrill.
“The Seagreen offshore wind farm shows TotalEnergies’ ambition to accelerate its transition to a broad energy company.
“We’ve been investing in Scotland for fifty years and offshore wind projects such as Seagreen shows how this relationship is beginning an exciting new chapter.”
Seagreen to power over 1 million homes
Seagreen is a £3 billion joint venture between TotalEnergies and SSE Renewables.
The 1.1GW Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm will be Scotland’s largest, and the world’s deepest, fixed-bottom offshore wind farm.
The wind farm will be complete in 2023.
At 1,075 megawatts, it will be able to produce enough low-carbon electricity to power 1.6m homes or the equivalent of almost every home and business in Edinburgh and Glasgow combined.
Subsea cables will bring the electricity from the wind farm to Carnoustie.
It will then transfer via underground cables for 19km to the Tealing substation. It has been under construction since March 2020.
Port of Montrose will host an operations and maintenance base servicing Seagreen.