Operational UK offshore wind capacity nudged above 16GW last year when EDF and ESB completed the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe project following a heavily-delayed and extremely challenging five-year build job off east Scotland.
The final Siemens Gamesa 8.4MW turbine went up in April and the site was fully commissioned two weeks later, marking the end of a delivery campaign that threw up numerous hurdles that some speculated could have seen the site abandoned.
However, the French and Irish developers kept the faith and stuck by the construction team, led by project director Matthias Haag, to get Neart na Gaoithe over the line.
NNG received the ‘Outstanding Project Award’ at the Scottish Green Energy Awards last month and after the event reNEWS Editor Stephen Dunne sat down with Haag to reflect on the ups and downs of construction.