'Milestone' moment for Scotland's largest offshore wind farm as jackets sail in

Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm has taken a “landmark” step forward, supporting scores of skilled jobs.

The first jacket superstructures, destined for the giant Seagreen project, have arrived at Port of Nigg in Cromarty Firth, ahead of their upcoming installation in the deep waters of the North Sea, some 27 kilometres off the Scottish coast.

The jacket components were welcomed to Global Energy Group’s Port of Nigg by representatives of project owners TotalEnergies and SSE Renewables, along with main contractor Seaway 7.

The installation process will last for about a year and is supporting up to 141 skilled jobs at Port of Nigg associated with the marshalling, storage, and logistics for the foundation components.

The delivery of Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm, the 1.1GW Seagreen, has taken another major step forward with the delivery of the first jacket superstructures to Port of Nigg in the Cromarty Firth. The delivery kickstarts the upcoming campaign to install all 114 wind turbine foundations in the North Sea, supporting up to 141 skilled jobs at the Scottish Highlands port. Picture: Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm

Those 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 wind farm project.

When complete in 2023, the 1.1-gigawatt facility will be Scotland’s largest, and the world’s deepest, “fixed-bottom” offshore wind farm.

Paul Cooley, director of Capital Projects at SSE Renewables, said: “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.

“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.”

Steve Rose, a director at TotalEnergies E&P UK, added: “We’re delighted that the Seagreen project has reached this milestone. To see these jackets ready to be installed and become part of Scotland’s largest wind farm is a real thrill.

“The Seagreen offshore wind farm shows TotalEnergies’ ambition to accelerate its transition to a broad energy company. We’ve been investing in Scotland for 50 years and offshore wind projects such as Seagreen shows how this relationship is beginning an exciting new chapter.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription: www.scotsman.com/subscriptions