With the installation of its first wind turbine at sea, the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm, located off the east coast of Scotland, has reached another high point its development.
The turbine’s journey to site began at the Port of Dundee when its component parts were loaded, alongside those of three other turbines, onto the specialist jack-up wind turbine construction vessel Blue Tern.
The turbine, with a tip height of over 656 feet, was installed by Siemens Gamesa from the Blue Tern, which initially placed the 287-foot turbine tower on its pre-installed steel jacket. This was followed by the installation of the 386-ton nacelle on top of the tower. Finally, its three blades, each 266 feet in length, were bolted to the nacelle.
Once commissioned, this will be the first NnG wind turbine to generate clean electricity for the National Grid in the United Kingdom. Its 8 MW of power will be sent via the subsea inter-array cable to its offshore substation, then onwards to shore via the subsea export cable to Thorntonloch Beach, where the underground onshore export cable will transmit its power to the grid.
NnG, which is owned by EDF Renewables UK and ESB, will ultimately supply enough electricity for around 375,000 homes and has a capacity of about 450 MW. The project will be fully operational in 2024.
