Dundee heavy-lift crane opens up the market for offshore wind

The large crane is in the process of being refurbished and assembled on the strengthened quay, a Forth Ports project assisted by the Scottish Government’s decommissioning challenge fund.

Stuart Wallace, chief operating officer at Forth Ports, said: “The quayside is in use and is currently doing project work linked to decommissioning subsea projects and offshore wind.”

Designed to handle the largest offshore wind turbines currently in service, the strengthened quayside has an ultra-heavy lift pad and a strength capability of 80t per sqm.

Completed at the end of 2017, the quay has been lengthened by 200m and adds both berthing and land capacity at the east side of the port.

The quay has recently been used for work to help develop Vattenfall’s Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm (EOWDC).

Mr Wallace stated: “The investment has been well received in the market, the capability is being used and is now starting to show its benefit in terms of the whole logistics chain and the ease of doing stuff from Dundee.”

The ports of Dundee and Leith in Edinburgh were identified as key assets in Scotland’s National Renewable Infrastructure Plan (NRIP) in 2011.