Scottish port takes key offshore wind role

Global Energy Group’s Port of Nigg near Inverness, has been selected as the marshalling, storage and logistics base for 114 wind turbine foundation structures.

The structures are destined for the GB£3bn 1,075MW Seagreen Offshore Windfarm being constructed in Scotland’s Firth of Forth as a joint venture between Total and SSE Renewables.

“The heavy load bearing capacity and deep-water quayside together with the facility’s strategic location and onsite, experienced, support services make the Port of Nigg the ideal choice for the execution of projects of this scale.” said Tim Cornelius, CEO of Global Energy Group.

Port base

SSE Renewables, which owns 49% of Seagreen, is leading on the development and construction of the joint venture project, supported by Total which owns 51%. SSE Renewables will operate Seagreen on completion. Seaway 7 is Seagreen’s foundation and inter-array cable Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation contractor.

Foundation installation at Seagreen is expected to commence in the second half of 2021 and last for a period of 12 months. The marshalling and logistics activity will see the delivery of Seagreen’s 114 foundation structures to the Highlands port via Heavy Transport Vessels (HTVs), prior to shipping out to the North Sea for installation. After jacket foundations are installed, Vestas V164-10 MW turbines will be positioned on each of the 114 bases.

Seagreen will be Scotland’s largest and deepest offshore wind farm when complete. It is expected to displace over 2m tonnes of carbon dioxide from electricity generated by fossil fuels every year. First power is expected by the end of 2021 with the offshore wind farm expected to enter commercial operation in 2022/23.

The Port of Nigg was previously selected by SSE Renewables for marshalling activities during its construction of the 588MW Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm.

In January, Crown Estate Scotland officially opened the application window for ScotWind Leasing, the new offshore wind leasing round for Scottish waters. The Scottish Government is aiming for 11GW of offshore wind generation capacity being installed in Scottish waters by 2030.