Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm: first power generation was announced

SSE Renewables, and its partner Total Energies have announced first power generation from the Seagreen offshore wind farm, 27km off the coast of Angus in Scotland. The 1,075MW Seagreen offshore wind farm, is currently under construction. A total of 114 turbines will be installed to produce around 5 terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable electricity per year, enough to power the equivalent of 1.6M households.

Owners Total Energies (51% stake) and SSE Renewables (49% stake) claim that when the offshore wind farm will be fully operational, in the first half of 2023, it will be the largest of its kind in Scotland and the world’s deepest fixed bottom one. The deepest foundation will be installed at 59m below sea level in December.

The foundations for the wind turbines are 95m tall and weigh 2,000t each. They are being transported by main contractor Seaway 7 on barges from Global Energy Group’s Port of Nigg in the Highlands of Scotland.

A key milestone for the project was reached this week, as the first turbine from Seagreen was commissioned and is now connected to the grid. The power generated by the turbine is collected and managed by a 4800t offshore platform topside, successfully installed in March, before it is transferred ashore via around 60km of offshore subsea cables.

From a landfall at Carnoustie, 19km of onshore cables carry the power to the project’s new substation at Tealing near Dundee, where it is exported to the grid. The installation of the onshore cables was completed in June.

TotalEnergies senior vice president renewables Vincent Stoquart said: “We are delighted to announce the start of power generation from Seagreen, our first offshore wind steps in the UK North Sea. This marks a new step in the development of TotalEnergies’ offshore activities capacity. This milestone will contribute directly to our objective of reaching 35 GW of renewable electricity capacity worldwide by 2025.”

SSE Renewables director of global offshore wind Paul Cooley said: “Seagreen has achieved a number of key milestones to date, but to see this turbine turning in the North Sea and to have reached first power safely, is a fantastic achievement for everyone connected to the project.

“The project has already brought benefits to the local community, the UK supply chain and, once completed, Seagreen will make a significant contribution to Scotland and the UK’s ambitious renewable energy targets.”