A consortium of developers led by SSE have made a positive final investment decision for the 588MW Beatrice offshore wind farm in Scotland.
SSE (40%), Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (35%) and SDIC Power of China (25%) have committed to the 84-turbine, £2.6bn build in the Moray Firth off Caithness.
Offshore construction will begin in 2017 with Siemens 7MW turbines to be installed in 2018.
SSE director of renewables Paul Cooley said: “We are delighted that Beatrice has achieved financial close and we are extremely grateful for all of the support received throughout the development of the project from stakeholders such as the Scottish government, DECC, HIE, the Highland Council, Moray Council and local communities.
“Contracts have already been placed with many UK based suppliers, and Siemens intend to undertake turbine blade construction from its new manufacturing facility in Hull.”
Wick will serve as the project’s O&M base.
The wind farm is being developed with a tier 1 supply chain which is expected to deliver £680m into the UK and Scottish economy via employment and supply chain opportunities, SSE said.
In addition to turbines, Siemens has also formed a consortium with Nexans to deliver the project’s grid connection work. This will include offshore transmission modules as well as onshore substations and other related infrastructure.
SHL/Subsea 7 have secured an EPCI contract at Beatrice worth more than US$1.3bn. The scope of work includes turbine foundation and array cable installation as well as the transport and installation of transmission modules.
The company will use heavylift vessels Stanislav Yudin and Oleg Strashnov on the job. “Both these vessels provide significant lift and installation capabilities ideally suited to the challenges of installing wind farm foundations,” said the company.
SHL chief executive Jan Willem van der Graaf said: “The Beatrice project is a major step forward in achieving our ambition to be a leading EPCI contractor in the offshore renewables industry.”
RenewableUK chief executive Hugh McNeal said: “It’s terrific to see another multi-billion pound international investment in our global-leading offshore wind industry.
“We now know that by 2020, 10% of the UK’s electricity will be generated by offshore wind farms, securing jobs and investment all over our country.”
Image: Siemens
