Wind Turbine Installation to Soon Begin at Neart na Gaoithe

Wind Farm Update

July 3, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

The installation of wind turbines that will make up the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm is scheduled to begin in the coming days, on or after 7 July. The first batches of turbine components have already been delivered to the Port of Dundee and the installation vessel Blue Tern, currently in the Port of Esbjerg, will soon set sail to Scotland.

Blue Tern in the Port Esbjerg; Photo; Nadja Skopljak, Navingo BV / Offshore Energy

The project’s 54 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines will be installed onto jacket foundations, ten of which were installed last year, along with two for the wind farm’s substations, with the heavy-lift vessel Thialf currently installing the remainder.

Fred. Olsen Windcarrier’s installation vessel Blue Tern, whose AIS data shows is still in the Port of Esbjerg where it arrived at the beginning of last month, will be followed by HST Swansea which will be used during turbine commissioning and accompanied by crew transfer vessels (CTVs) Farra Ciara, Mareel Old Rose and Channel Chieftain VI.

The first eight of the 54 wind turbine nacelles for the 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm arrived last month at the Port of Dundee, where the first towers were already being assembled.

The 450 MW NnG, jointly owned by EDF Renewables and ESB, is being built 15 kilometres off the coast of Fife.

Once fully commissioned in 2024, the offshore wind farm will supply enough electricity for around 375,000 households and offset over 400,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.