The delivery of what will be Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm took another major step forward today as the first jacket superstructures, destined for the 1.1GW Seagreen project arrived at Port of Nigg in Cromarty Firth, ahead of their upcoming installation in the deep waters of the North Sea, 27km off the Scottish coast near Angus.
The jacket components, which are to be installed as part of the foundations for the giant 1.1GW Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm, were welcomed to Global Energy Group’s Port of Nigg by representatives of project owners TotalEnergies and Scottish renewable energy developer SSE Renewables, along with main contractor Seaway 7.
The delivery kickstarts the upcoming campaign to install all 114 wind turbine foundations at the offshore project site off the Angus coast, beginning in October. After jacket foundations are installed, Vestas V164-10 MW turbines will be positioned on each of the turbine bases.
The foundation installation campaign will last for a period of around 12 months and is supporting up to 141 skilled jobs at Port of Nigg associated with the marshalling, storage, and logistics for the foundation components.
The jobs include work for 93 permanent roles already on-site as well as an additional 48 new roles which have been created at the port to support the Seagreen project, delivering a green jobs boost to the Scottish Highlands.
SSE Renewables is leading the development and construction of the joint venture project, supported by TotalEnergies, and will operate Seagreen on completion. When complete in 2023, the 1.1GW Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm will be Scotland’s largest, and the world’s deepest, fixed-bottom offshore wind farm.
Paul Cooley, Director of Capital Projects at SSE Renewables said: “This is a landmark occasion and a fantastic opportunity to draw attention to not only the progress that the Seagreen project is making but also the benefits that Scotland’s largest wind farm is bringing to Scotland’s economy and supply chain.
“At SSE Renewables we’re proud to be leading the construction of Seagreen and the benefits it is bringing to Scotland. The jobs boost at Port of Nigg associated with the installation of Seagreen’s foundations is great for the local area and the Highlands as a whole and builds on our excellent track record at SSE Renewables of supply chain support in Scotland.”
Steve Rose, Director of HSE at TotalEnergies E&P UK said: “We’re delighted that the Seagreen project has reached this milestone. To see these jackets ready to be installed and become part of Scotland’s largest wind farm is a real thrill.
“The Seagreen offshore wind farm shows TotalEnergies’ ambition to accelerate its transition to a broad energy company. We’ve been investing in Scotland for fifty years and offshore wind projects such as Seagreen shows how this relationship is beginning an exciting new chapter.”
Also on hand to welcome the jackets was Lloyd Duthie, Managing Director for EPCI Projects at Seaway 7. Seaway 7 is managing the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of Seagreen’s 114 wind turbine generator foundations and approximately 300km of associated inter-array cables.
Lloyd Duthie said: “Today is a significant milestone for everyone involved in constructing Seagreen, as well as Scotland’s communities, who will benefit from its renewable energy. Seaway 7 has been active in the UK Renewables sector for over a decade and are pleased to continue supporting the ongoing energy transition in Scotland from our office in Aberdeen.”
Chief Operating Officer for Global Energy Group, Ian Cobban said: “We are delighted to welcome the jackets for the Seagreen project to our Port of Nigg facility. We are in the process of constructing an impressive, dedicated ring crane on our quayside to enable the loadout of these structures, supported by our onsite logistics and vessel support teams. The Seagreen jackets mark the 3rd project of this kind to be carried out from the Port of Nigg, highlighting our continued focus on developing the site to support the future of the UK Offshore wind market. We look forward to working closely with all parties in the successful execution of the storage, marshalling and loadout of the jackets before their onward journey to the field.”
About Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm
Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm will be operational in 2023 and will be able to produce enough low-carbon electricity to power 1.6m homes or the equivalent of almost every home and business in Edinburgh and Glasgow combined.* The £3bn joint venture project between TotalEnergies and SSE Renewables will have 114 10MW turbines in the deep waters 27km off the coast of Angus in the North Sea, and will be the world’s deepest fixed-bottom offshore wind farm.
About Seaway 7
Seaway 7, the renewables business unit of Subsea 7, is a highly capable and experienced partner for the delivery of offshore wind farm projects, as well as a provider of specialist heavy lifting and cable installation services.
About SSER
SSE Renewables is a leading developer, owner and operator of renewable energy across the UK and Ireland, with a portfolio of around 4GW of onshore wind, offshore wind and hydro. Part of the FTSE-listed SSE plc, its strategy is to drive the transition to a net zero future through the world class development, construction and operation of renewable energy assets.
SSE Renewables is leading the construction of more offshore wind energy than any other company in the world right now. It is currently constructing the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the 3.6GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the North Sea, a joint venture with Equinor and Eni, as well as Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm, the 1.1GW Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm in the Firth of Forth, which is a joint venture with TotalEnergies. It also has the largest offshore wind development pipeline across the UK and Ireland at around 7GW, of which around 1.5GW is already in construction and nearly 800MW is fully consented.
SSE Renewables owns nearly 2GW of operational onshore wind capacity with a development pipeline of over 1GW under development. Its 1,459MW hydro portfolio includes 300MW of pumped storage and 750MW of flexible hydro. Its operational offshore wind portfolio consists of 487MW across two offshore joint venture sites, Beatrice and Greater Gabbard, both of which it operates on behalf of its asset partners.
SSE is a Principal Partner to the UK Government in the run up to and during the COP26 UN climate summit in November 2021.
About TotalEnergies
TotalEnergies is a broad energy company that produces and markets energies on a global scale: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity. Our 105,000 employees are committed to energy that is ever more affordable, clean, reliable and accessible to as many people as possible. Active in more than 130 countries, TotalEnergies puts sustainable development in all its dimensions at the heart of its projects and operations to contribute to the well-being of people.
