Building Scotland’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm: WTG Components Are Starting to Arrive at the Port of Nigg

Global Port Services — owned by Global Energy Group alongside the Port of Nigg — has secured multiple contracts to support their client Seagreen Wind Energy Limited (SWEL), with site enabling works for the Pre-Assembly Construction of wind turbine components (WTGs) at their Port of Nigg facility. The news comes as the final turbine foundations for Seagreen arrive at Nigg to be prepared for installation at the project’s wind farm site, 27km off the coast of Angus.

A joint venture between TotalEnergies (51%) and SSE Renewables (49%), Seagreen will be Scotland’s largest and the world’s deepest fixed foundation offshore wind farm once complete and will power more than 1.6m homes. With a total installed generating capacity of 1,075MW, the project is due to be fully operational in summer 2023.

The contracts, which are expected to run through to summer 2023, will see Global Port Services provide proven project management and technical support for site enabling works, pre-assembly set up, as well as ongoing services to include crane support, SPMT’s and associated labour, plant, equipment, and quayside services — supporting Danish firms Vestas Offshore and BMS Heavy Lift, who will carry out the onshore assembly and offshore installation for Seagreen. The overall pre-assembly construction project is supporting more than 100 skilled jobs at the Port of Nigg, delivering a green jobs boost and significant economic benefit to the Highlands and Scotland.

The WTGs are to be installed on top of offshore turbine foundations. Global Port Services are simultaneously fulfilling the storage, marshalling and logistics contracts for the 114, 95m-tall ‘yellow jacket’ foundation towers for Seagreen on the South Quay at the Port of Nigg, under a separate contract with Seaway 7.

It will be the first major infrastructure and pre-assembly contract of its type to be brought to the Port since the unveiling of the new purpose-built East Quay in July, and offers 160,000m2 of adjacent project areas comprising laydown, storage and assembly yards with dedicated warehousing and client project offices.

Speaking about the contract award, Alistair Gordon, Executive Officer for Global Port Services, said:

“We are delighted to support yet another significant project for wind energy in Scotland, working with Seagreen, Vestas and BMS for the site enabling, storage, assembly and load out of these key components for what will be Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm. Won on the back of the successes of the Siemens Beatrice and Vestas Moray East offshore wind pre-assembly contracts, which were also Scotland’s largest OWFs at the time, the new contract awards are an accolade to the excellent logistics support services and dedicated facilities on offer at Nigg, and it marks the first major project to be secured for the new East Quay, of which I hope there will be many more.”

Rob Richardson, WTG Installation Manager for SWEL, said:

“This award further strengthens our relationship with the Port of Nigg and Global Port Services and plays a critical role in the successful delivery of the Seagreen project. The short mobilization period is testament to the flexibility and positive approach by the Global Port Services team and a robust local supply chain.”

Major Coup for Global Port Services

The securing of the Seagreen pre-assembly contact is being seen as a coup for Global Port Services and Port of Nigg. Already Scotland’s most important energy industry port facility, when the Port of Nigg expanded its capabilities with the recent opening of the new East Quay, it was hailed as a game changer for the Global Energy Group portfolio of companies based there who deliver fabrication, repair, maintenance, enhancement and conversion projects for the renewables, oil & gas and nuclear sectors, supported by a full package of on-site services.

At 225m long and 50m wide, the East Quay increased the leading port facility’s deepwater quayside capacity to over 1,200m – placing it amongst the largest in the country – enabling logistics specialists Global Port Services to service simultaneous OWF foundation and turbine tower contracts as is being done for Seagreen.

Onshore Wind Demand Growing

In addition to the Seagreen project, Global Port Services is also delivering on a noteworthy onshore wind farm project for Enercon at Creag Riabhach Wind Farm, Lairg. With all components received, stored, marshalled and transported by their dedicated Shipping Division at Nigg, its recently launched Global Wind Projects division will complete the installation of the WTGs on site, working alongside sister company Global Cranes Services.

Global Wind Projects provides full scope crane & installation (C&I) services to the renewables sector with ambitious plans to become one of the UK and Ireland’s leading providers of onshore and offshore wind turbine installation services.