Half of the 114 offshore wind turbines which will make up Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm, Seagreen, have now been installed in the North Sea off the east coast of Scotland, SSE Renewables said this week, adding that a record has been broken for the world's deepest fixed-bottom turbine installation, too.
The construction campaign at the Seagreen Wind Farm achieved the landmark this week with the installation of the fifty-seventh Vestas V164-10.0 MW turbine, approximately twenty-seven kilometers off the coast of the county of Angus.
Since 2021, parts for the Seagreen turbines, including blades, nacelles, and supporting towers, have arrived from Vestas’ base at Able Seaton Port in Hartlepool in the North-East of England.
Seagreen first generated power to the UK national grid in August. When fully operational, the wind farm will be capable of generating around 5,000 GWh of electricity a year, which is enough to power more than 1.6 million UK homes.
Sixty-three of the jacket foundation substructures which support the turbines are now also in place. The three-legged jacket foundations each weigh approx. 2,000 tonnes and play a critical role in safely supporting the wind turbines during Seagreen’s operational lifespan, SSE said.
SSE Renewables continues to lead the development and construction of the Seagreen project and will operate Seagreen on completion for its expected 25-year lifetime.
Apart from being the largest offshore wind farm in Scotland, Seagreen is also the world’s deepest fixed-bottom offshore wind farm, with a number of the wind turbines being installed in water depths of more than fifty-five meters.
The deepest fixed-bottom turbine installed ever was placed at a depth of 57.4 meters this week, and Seagreen will beat its own record when another turbine is installed at an even great depth in early 2023.
Situated around 27km off the Angus coast, the £3bn wind farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (49%) and TotalEnergies (51%).