The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Power from Moray East flows into National Grid
Saturday June 4 marked an important day for Moray East, Scotland’s biggest wind farm, which is currently undergoing construction, 22 miles from the Banffshire coast in the Moray Firth.
On that day, the first power was exported from the wind farm to the National Grid – and onward to homes and businesses across the land.
Phased construction techniques mean that although the wind farm is still being built ( just over half of the 100 planned turbines have been installed), it is possible to generate power from the turbines which have been commissioned while the remainder are installed.
Production of power is the culmination of more than a decade of effort. In 2009, when the facility was first proposed, commercialscale generation of power in deeper waters distant from shore was a vision and an aspiration.
The UK led the world in offshore wind generation, but turbines had been built close to shore in water depths of less than 10 metres. Working in water depths of 50m and more have opened major new areas of the UK’s waters for low-carbon energy development.
Our use of cutting-edge technology has reduced the cost of offshore generation by two-thirds.
Over the last 10 years, we have developed strong relationships with businesses and communities across Scotland, particularly in the north-east.
Our commitment to the Moray Firth is long term. We take wind farms from concept through construction to operation, and our new operations and maintenance base in Fraserburgh will provide high-quality local employment for the operational life span of the wind farm.
But the 950MW Moray East facility is just the first. In 2018, we secured planning consent for a facility of a similar scale, the Moray West Offshore Wind Farm, and we will compete in the UK Government’s next Contract for Difference auction at the end of this year to secure the contract.
This will enable Moray West to sell its power and thus to become a financially viable project which can proceed to construction, and join its sister project, delivering power throughout Scotland before the middle of the decade.
The Scottish Government’s ScotWind process, which is currently under way, is making the first new sites available for offshore wind development in more than 10 years.
As an established and trusted developer, with its UK headquarters in Edinburgh and local office in Fraserburgh, Ocean Winds looks forward to bringing forward proposals for various Scottish sites.
These will include proposals to enable the Moray Firth to continue with its energy transition from offshore oil to offshore wind.
Long-term development of the Moray Firth as a focus for offshore wind will enable sustainable supply chain growth and expansion with a development of the skills and expertise which will be in worldwide demand as offshore wind emerges as a key foundation of global energy decarbonisation.