Jacket Hardware for Deepest Fixed-Bottom Wind Farm Starts Arriving in Scotland

The first jacket superstructures destined for the 1.1 GW Seagreen offshore wind farm have arrived at Port of Nigg in Cromarty Firth, Scotland.

The jacket components will be installed as part of the foundations in the deep waters of the North Sea, 27 kilometres off the Scottish coast near Angus.

The components 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.

The 114 jacket foundations are being manufactured by Lamprell, COOEC-Fluor Heavy Industries and Jutal Offshore Oil Services.

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 twelve 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.

SSE Renewables is leading the development and construction of the joint venture project, supported by TotalEnergies, and will operate Seagreen on completion.

”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,” Paul Cooley, Director of Capital Projects at SSE Renewables, said.

”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.”

When complete in 2023, the 1.1 GW Seagreen will be Scotland’s largest, and the world’s deepest, fixed-bottom offshore wind farm.

”To see these jackets ready to be installed and become part of Scotland’s largest wind farm is a real thrill,” Steve Rose, Director of HSE at TotalEnergies E&P UK, said.

”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.”

Seaway 7 is managing the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of Seagreen’s 114 wind turbine generator foundations and approximately 300 kilometres of associated inter-array cables.

”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,” Lloyd Duthie, Managing Director for EPCI Projects at Seaway 7, said.

Global Energy Group is currently constructing a dedicated ring crane on the quayside to enable the loadout of the Seagreen jackets, according to Ian Cobban, Chief Operating Officer for Global Energy Group.

”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,” Cobban said.