Green shoots of economic recovery from Seagreen
by Jim Smith, managing director of SSE Renewables
We are seeing the first green shoots of the economic recovery we can make along Scotland’s east coast through new offshore wind projects.
Seagreen will create around 400 jobs during construction and will deliver an estimated £1 billion-plus in economic benefits to Scotland and the UK.
Much of that economic benefit as well as those jobs will be in Angus, including high quality, full-time jobs that will work out of Montrose Port to service the wind farm throughout its 25-year lifetime.
We’ve also announced that we’re taking the project forward with a new joint venture partner, Total. Together we will invest £3bn in delivering what will become Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm.
Construction will start next year, and when it’s completed in 2022/23, Seagreen will be Scotland’s single largest source of renewable energy, powering over 1 million homes and offsetting 1.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
Construction will start next year, and when it’s completed in 2022/23, Seagreen will be Scotland’s single largest source of renewable energy, powering over 1 million homes and offsetting 1.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
This is exactly the type of project that we at SSE Renewables believe will kick start the green recovery from coronavirus, helping Angus and the North East of Scotland to build a cleaner, more resilient economy.
One of the achievements we are proudest of is the roll-call of contracts already announced which will deliver a real power boost to the Scottish economy, both locally and nationally.
As well as greenlighting the project, we have just announced a number of contracts that will provide immediate job support at this crucial time in the region.
We’re building on our long-standing relationship with Seaway 7 in Aberdeen, with whom we successfully delivered the existing Beatrice offshore wind farm, to install the inter array cables and foundations for Seagreen.
Our contract immediately secures 30 jobs at Seaway 7’s Aberdeen office and this number will grow to around 50 jobs at peak construction.
We’ve signed a contract with MHI Vestas to provide the 10MW turbines for the wind farm as well as a 15-year service and maintenance agreement which will see MHI Vestas run its operations out of Montrose Port, already selected as the location for the wind farm’s operations base.
The presence of MHI Vestas at Montrose is going to be a massive catalyst for sustained economic growth in the region.
And we had already chosen Aberdeen-based Petrofac to manage the installation of the wind farm’s offshore and onshore substations.
Indeed, construction of the onshore substation is likely to support up to 100 jobs locally, as well as added economic value to the Angus region through the provision of local goods and services.
These are the real green shoots of the recovery we need right now and we expect more green shoots to emerge as further project contracts are signed.
It’s all part of a ‘greenprint’ that we at SSE Renewables, as part of the wider SSE group proudly headquartered in Scotland, believe can get us back on the right road to a green economic recovery. We’ve made a lot of progress but there’s more we can do.
