Seagreen project given green light

I’m very proud SSE Renewables has been awarded contracts.

JIM SMITH

A multi-billion-pound wind farm off the Tayside coast is one of 12 given the green light under the UK Government’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) in a green energy bonanza.

The CfD scheme determines what the government will pay per megawatt of electricity produced by a wind farm.

Phase one of the three-phase Seagreen farm, approximately 27km off the Angus coast, will have a capacity of 454MW.

The SSE Renewables owned Seagreen project is set to deliver electricity from 2024 and will cover 400sq km, providing enough power for up to 1.2 million homes.

Estimates suggest the 120 turbines will also create up to 410 jobs across the UK annually and cost £5.7 billion.

Other successful projects include four Scottish island wind farm schemes and six offshore wind projects in the waters off Scotland and England, which are set to be delivered between 2023 and 2025 for between £39.65 and £41.61 per megawatt hour.

The cost of offshore wind has continued to fall, with power from some of the new schemes falling below £40 per megawatt hour of electricity.

Jim Smith, managing director of SSE Renewables, said: “I’m very proud SSE Renewables has been awarded contracts to deliver new renewable energy from offshore for the UK.

“Working with our project partners as well as the wider supply chain, we will now turn our focus in the months ahead to mobilising Seagreen and Dogger Bank towards financial close and construction.”

Not all bids were successful, with Red Rock Power’s 150sq km Inch Cape wind farm, which was earmarked to be built 15km off the Angus coast with the capacity to power more than half a million homes, not included in the list.

Guy Madgwick, Red Rock Power chief executive, said: “We are naturally very disappointed that our Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm project has not secured a CfD award.

“The development is a culmination of over 10 years of hard work and significant investment and could play an important role in both achieving the country’s green energy targets and supporting economic growth.

“We will now liaise closely with our supply chain to consider how best to move forward with the project, and hope to share an update as soon as possible,” he added.