EDF Renewables and ESB have drafted in Fred Olsen Windcarrier to complete drilling at the delayed 450MW Neart na Gaoithe wind farm off east Scotland.
Jack-up Blue Tern is being mobilised for the job from Esbjerg in Denmark and will soon arrive at the project site off Fife, the partners said in a social media post.
Blue Tern, which EDF and ESB said is “well-suited” to the work as it can operate in 65-metre waters, is replacing Saipem 7000.
The Italian marine contractor’s giant crane ship started drilling boreholes for jacket pin piles in 2020 but left the site last year with the job incomplete.
Drilling work, which was originally due to wrap up in 2021, has so far been completed at 31 of the 56 foundation locations. Installation of casings into the boreholes has been taking place in recent months with Saipem’s S3000 deployed.
EDF and ESB have pushed commissioning of the wind farm back to 2024, a year later than initially planned.
Challenges completing the drilling work are partly to blame for the delay, it is understood.
NNG is to feature Siemens Gamesa 8MW turbines.