Key milestone achieved on huge offshore wind project
Final substation to set sail for Moray East this weekend ● Major step as progress continues on 950MW site
A significant milestone in the development of the £ 2.6 billion Moray East offshore wind farm is set to be reached this weekend as the final one of a trio of key components sets sail for the site.
The last of three Siemens substations – each weighing 1,100 tonnes – will leave a fabrication yard in Belgium ahead of installation at the wind farm some 22km off the Aberdeenshire coast,
The project will be the first in the world to have three of the offshore transformer modules installed.
The 950 - megawatt ( MW) Moray East project will be capable of providing enough electricit y to power almost one million homes. In addition, it will save the equivalent of 1.4 million tonnes of CO₂ annually compared to gas generation.
The modules were fabricated and fitted out in Hoboken, Belgium by Smulders, ENGIE Solutions and Siemens Energy.
They stabilise and maximise the voltage of the power received from the offshore wind turbines before transmitting the electricity to shore.
Each module will transmit the power generated by the 100 turbines across the site, back to shore and into the national grid where it will be distributed to homes and businesses.
Siemens Energy designed the components using a modular f abrication approach which saved cost and time.
Mark Pilling, head of transmission solutions, Siemens Energy UK & Ireland, said: “This is a significant mile - stone in the project to bring low cost, low carbon power to homes and businesses across Scotland.
“Achieving this is a testament to the hard work of the team who have delivered these components with zero snags to the customer, which is an incredible achievement.”
Marcel Sunier, project director for the wind farm, said the work on t he modules was a “reminder t hat t he step - change in the transition to low- cost, low- carbon power is enabled by scale and by worldleading innovations”.
“As a well- known supplier in the UK market, Siemens Energy has created opportunities for local UK firms to participate in the global offshore marketplace on which offshore wind depends for making renewable energy highly competitive.”
Earlier this month the first offshore export cable from the site successfully made landfall at Inverboyndie.
The cable will be one of three which will take power via an underground cable to a substation near New Deer.
The wind farm, expected to be operational by 2022, has secured a 15- year agreement under the UK government’s Contract for Difference support scheme for renewables.
It is being developed by a joint venture company owned by Diamond Green, Ocean Winds and CTG.