World’s deepest offshore wind turbine foundation is installed in Scottish waters

The world’s deepest wind turbine foundation has been installed at what will be Scotland’s largest offshore windfarm.

The foundation was erected at Seagreen wind farm at a depth of 58.6 meters, setting a new record for foundation installation.

It was transported to the project site 27 kilometers off the coast of Angus via a barge, which was met by the semisubmersible crane vessel which is used to lift each of the 2,000-tonne turbine foundations into place.

The milestone also marks the installation of the 112th jacket at the 114 turbine wind farm as part of the £3bn Seagreen offshore wind farm.

Each foundation will support a Vestas V164-10 MW turbine.

Generation

The 1GW wind farm began generating electricity in August last year. When complete, the wind farm will be capable of generating around 5,000 GWh of renewable energy annually, which is enough clean, secure, sustainable electricity to power more than 1.6m UK homes.

Neil Gray, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy said:

"We already know that Scotland has the skills, innovation and natural resources to be a true world-leader in offshore wind technology – from ScotWind, to INTOG, to the spectacular Seagreen installation.

"As set out in our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, offshore wind power will play a key role in our energy transition, and the Scottish Government will continue to support the sector to continue to deliver innovative, landmark projects like this - not only generating clean, green energy, but delivering increasing economic benefits across our wider supply chains and communities."

Net Zero

Seagreen wind farm is an important part of SSE’s £12.5bn Net Zero Acceleration Plan that can accelerate the UK’s path towards becoming a net zero economy. By the end of the decade, SSE says it plans to invest over £24bn in the UK alone.

Neil Gray, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy said:

"We already know that Scotland has the skills, innovation and natural resources to be a true world-leader in offshore wind technology – from ScotWind, to INTOG, to the spectacular Seagreen installation.

"As set out in our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, offshore wind power will play a key role in our energy transition, and the Scottish Government will continue to support the sector to continue to deliver innovative, landmark projects like this - not only generating clean, green energy, but delivering increasing economic benefits across our wider supply chains and communities.”