Renewable energy company SSE Renewables, together with TotalEnergies, has announced first power generation from the Seagreen offshore wind farm, 27km off the coast of Angus in Scotland.
According to SSE Renewables, the first of 114 Vestas turbines was commissioned and connected to the grid this week.
The wind farm is expected to be fully operational in the first half of 2023. Once complete, the 1,075MW project will produce approximately 5TWh of renewable electricity annually, enough to power the equivalent of 1.6 million households.
Paul Cooley, director of global offshore wind at SSE Renewables, said in a statement: “Seagreen has achieved a number of key milestones to date, but to see this turbine turning in the North Sea and to have reached first power safely, is a fantastic achievement for everyone connected to the project.
“The project has already brought benefits to the local community, the UK supply chain and, once completed, Seagreen will make a significant contribution to Scotland and the UK’s ambitious renewable energy targets.”
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The Seagreen project is one of Scotland’s largest offshore wind farms and, according to SSE Renewables, is the world’s deepest fixed bottom wind farm with its deepest foundation due to be installed at 59 metres below sea level.
TotalEnergies has a 51% stake in the Seagreen and will operate the project once completed.
Vincent Stoquart, senior vice president renewables of TotalEnergies said: “This marks a new step in the development of TotalEnergies’ offshore activities capacity. This milestone will contribute directly to our objective of reaching 35GW of renewable electricity capacity worldwide by 2025.”
Currently, the installation of the turbines is being undertaken by the specialist heavy lifting vessels Wind Osprey and other support vessels. These support vessels include local fishing vessels that are employed as guard vessels throughout the offshore construction phase to ensure a safe construction zone for all marine traffic.
This story was originally published at Power Engineering International here.
