The giant offshore wind farm (OWF) project in the Moray Firth, off Scotland has finished pin piling work for 100 turbines and three substations at the site.
The 950MW Moray East offshore wind development confirmed it has installed 309 pin piles using the jack-up installation Apollo vessel which worked out of Cromarty Firth Ports Authority’s onshore handling facilities at Invergordon.
Work to install the pin piles in the sea-bed commenced in May 2019, it noted in a press release.
Project Director for Moray East, Marcel Sunier said: “The important first phase of offshore installation works have been completed safely and successfully without any major incidents. I would like to thank all those involved including our contractors, our suppliers, our local port facilities at Invergordon and the authorities."
Although the piles are undersea, underground and unseen, they are the foundations on which the entire project’s success literally rests, he said.
The challenge of accurately driving 309 piles into the sea-bed, in water depths of ca. 50m, more than 20km from shore in Scottish weather conditions cannot be understated, he added.
Marcel said: “The dynamics which make the Moray Firth a more challenging location for installation are the same dynamics which enable us to deliver high a volume of electricity at a record-low price. The experience and expertise developed working in this challenging environment are vital resources for the UK’s journey to ‘Net Zero’."
The company is looking forward to the next stages of the project which will see the jackets and various turbine components begin to be marshaled at the local ports at Nigg and Invergordon prior to their installation as well as the installation of the three offshore substations, the inter array cables and the offshore export cable.
The 950MW wind farm is being developed by Moray Offshore Windfarm East Ltd (MOWEL), which is a joint venture company owned by Diamond Green Limited (33.4%), EDPR (33.3 %), ENGIE (23.3%) and CTG (10%).