Moray West developers select offshore partners

Aplanned North Sea wind farm has selected a consortium to supply the project’s two offshore substation platforms.

Subject to Moray West winning a Contract for Difference (CfD) and reaching financial close, Siemens Energy and Lemants will be responsible for providing the offshore infrastructure.

The platforms will use Siemens Energy’s Offshore Transformer Module (OTM) technology.

Lemants is a subsidiary of Smulders, based in Wallsend, Newcastle.

A key driver behind the selection was the consortium’s proposals for carrying out the assembly and fit out of the OTMs at Smulders’ UK yard.

Also located in Wallsend, the facility fabricated jacket foundations for the neighbouring Moray East project.

Moray West developers have hailed the selection of the group as “good news” for UK fabrication, signalling the return of topside work to a UK yard after a gap of several years.

Green energy from the project’s turbines will be transported using inter-array cables to the two OTMs.

From there, the power will travel via an export cable to an onshore substation, also provided by Siemens Energy, and on to the National Grid.

Moray West is a fully consented scheme being developed by Ocean Winds, a partnership between EDPR and ENGIE.

A grid connection for 860 megawatts (MW) is in place, with approval for up to 85 turbines – the exact number and model of turbines remains to be determined.

The development previously missed out on a CfD in 2019 after it failed to meet the needed strike price to sell energy to the National Grid.

But it is expected to have another crack at securing a UK Government subsidy, with the latest CfD auction due to open in the near future.

Adam Morrison, project director for Moray West, said: “Siemens Energy brings a strong track record and we have worked well together on delivery of the Moray East OTMs.

“Moray West will utilise the next iteration of the Siemens Energy Offshore Transformer Module concept which will ensure the project can reliably export excellent value green electricity to consumers across the UK.

“We are delighted to secure topside work in the UK again, an important win for green recovery.

“We look forward to working with the joint venture to maximise further local content.”

Just next door to the Moray West site, the final touches are being put on the Moray East offshore wind farm ahead of full output, expected before the end of the year.

The 100-turbine development began generating power in June and is currently Scotland’s largest operational offshore wind farm.

It was hoped that Moray West, Moray East and SSE Renewable’s Beatrice, built off Caithness, would create a pipeline of more than 3,000 jobs over 10 years in the Moray Firth.

Phil Manley, project director for Siemens Energy UK&I, said: “This project will be an important step forward in reaching the UK Government target of increasing offshore wind power to 40GW in the next decade.”

Tom Coosemans, general manager of Smulders Projects UK, commented: “The Moray West project allows us to kickstart further projects at the Smulders’ yard, building the pathway for supplementary green jobs and securing additional local content projects in the near future.”