Half of the 114 turbines that will make up Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm are now in place in the North Sea off the east coast of Scotland.
The construction campaign at the Seagreen Wind Farm achieved the landmark with the installation of the 57th Vestas V164-10.0 MW turbine approximately 27 kilometers of the coast of the county of Angus.
Since 2021, parts for the Seagreen turbines, including blades, nacelles and the supporting towers, have arrived from Vestas’ base at Able Seaton Port in Hartlepool, England.
Seagreen first generated power for the U.K. grid in August. When fully operational, the wind farm will be capable of generating around 5,000 GWh of renewable energy annually, which is enough electricity to power more than 1.6 million U.K. homes.
Sixty-three of the jacket foundation substructures that support the turbines are now also in place. The three-legged jacket foundations each weigh approximately 2,000 tons and play a critical role in safely supporting the wind turbines during Seagreen’s operational lifespan.
SSE Renewables continues to lead the development and construction of the Seagreen project and will operate Seagreen on completion for its expected 25-year lifetime.
“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,” says John Hill, Seagreen’s project director. “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 U.K.’s net zero targets.”
Seagreen is also the world’s deepest fixed bottom offshore wind farm with a number of the wind turbines being installed in water depths of more than 55 meters. The deepest fixed bottom turbine installed was recently placed at a depth of 57.4 meters. Seagreen is installing another turbine at an even great depth in early 2023.
Of the 114 blade sets due to be installed at Seagreen, 99 blade sets, or 297 blades in total, are being produced domestically at Vestas’ manufacturing facility in the Isle of Wight. Situated around 27 kilometers off the Angus coast, the £3 billion wind farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (49%) and TotalEnergies (51%).
