The first jacket foundation has been installed for SSE Renewables and TotalEnergies’ 1075MW Seagreen offshore wind farm off the coast of Angus, Scotland.
Main project contractor Seaway 7 transported the first two jackets on a barge from Global Energy Group’s Port of Nigg in the Highlands of Scotland to the site 27km off the coast of Angus, arriving last Wednesday.
The barge was met by semisubmersible crane vessel Saipem 7000, which is used to lift each of the 2000 tonne-jackets.
SSE Renewables is leading the development and construction of the project, supported by TotalEnergies, and will operate Seagreen on completion.
The developers said the installation campaign marks the first-ever gigawatt-scale deployment of suction caisson technology to fix offshore wind turbine foundations to the seabed.
Several barges will work in continuous rotation with each other carrying two jackets from Nigg to the offshore site before returning to Nigg for replenishment.
Each journey from Nigg out to site will take approximately 36 hours depending on the weather.
More than 50 people are involved each time the barges head out to site including the on-shore team, ballast engineer, tug captain, crew, riggers, welders, tow master and pilot.
The overall turbine foundations installation campaign is supporting over 140 skilled jobs at Port of Nigg.
SSE Renewables director of capital projects Paul Cooley said: “It is fantastic to get our campaign to install all 114 wind turbine foundations in underway and on schedule for what will be the world’s deepest, fixed bottom offshore wind farm.
“It is testament to the skill of our project team and all our contractors including our Scottish and UK supply chain that we have been able to get to this landmark point.”
TotalEnergies head of offshore wind UK Philippe de Cacqueray said: “Scotland’s energy transition is beginning to accelerate, and we have taken another important step towards the Net-Zero goal.
“TotalEnergies is delighted that Seagreen has now installed the first jacket at what will become Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm.”
A lease agreement between Crown Estate Scotland and Seagreen has been signed for rights to access the required area of seabed which allows the project to move on to this next stage of its development.
Crown Estate Scotland director of marine Colin Palmer said: “This is an extremely important development in the expansion of the Scottish offshore wind sector, as we continue to take strides towards a Net Zero future for the country and comes just weeks prior to Scotland playing host to the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
“We have worked very closely with the Seagreen team throughout the project’s development stage, and we look forward to continuing to do so in the years to come as the wind farm itself starts to take shape.
“It is major projects like this which will help unlock the huge potential of Scotland’s seas to decarbonise our energy market and deliver lasting benefits to communities.”
Seaway 7 managing director EPCI projects Lloyd Duthie said: “As the main contractor constructing Seagreen, we are pleased to be contributing to Scotland’s offshore wind sector and an efficient and sustainable energy supply for the future.
“The installation of the first Seagreen jacket is a momentous milestone for everyone involved in the project, only 16 months after contract award and a testament to the hard work of the thousands of people bringing Seagreen to life across the supply chain.
“We’ll continue the jacket installation campaign through 2021 and 2022 as we lay Seagreen’s foundations.
“Later this year our cable lay vessels will start the installation of the inner array grid cables.
“These cables will connect the network of turbines and transport future electricity generated by the wind turbines to the offshore substation – ready for transport onshore.
Global Energy Group chief executive Tim Cornelius said: “We are delighted to be supporting the storage and marshalling activities for the Seagreen project at the Port of Nigg.
“Seeing this major milestone achieved is testament to the significant contributions of everyone involved.
“It is major projects like this which will help the Scottish supply chain benefit from efforts to decarbonise our energy market in the UK.
“We look forward to welcoming the remaining components over the coming months and to supporting SSE Renewables in all of their future development endeavours.”
Each jacket foundation will support a Vestas V164-10MW turbine.
First power is expected by early 2022 with the offshore wind farm expected to enter commercial operation in 2023.