Seagreen Picks Communications Infrastructure Provider

UK connectivity provider SSE Enterprise Telecoms has won a contract to provide the communications infrastructure for what will be Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm – the 1,075 MW Seagreen 1.

Having been selected to spearhead the project following a competitive tender process, SSE Enterprise Telecoms will be responsible for the installation of a comprehensive Wide Area Network (WAN) between the substation at Tealing, Dundee, and the operations centre in Montrose.

The connection will provide offshore wind farm engineers based at Montrose with the visibility of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and technical equipment at Tealing needed to manage the distribution of power to the substation. This will maximise the operational efficiency of Seagreen and help it remain compliant from regulatory and health and safety perspectives.

The role of SSE Enterprise Telecoms will be to facilitate the flow of data between the offshore wind farm’s planned substation and onshore operations centre, to allow for crucial data analysis. By enabling the transfer of data between on and off-shore sites, the UK telco will be providing access to important insights into power, temperature, and energy trends.

Once complete in 2022/23, the Seagreen 1 offshore wind farm will comprise 114 MHI Vestas V164-10 MW1 wind turbines which will generate enough electricity to power 40 per cent of all Scottish homes.

A joint venture partnership between SSE Renewables and Total is investing GBP 3 billion into the project, with onshore construction already underway and offshore construction due to get underway later this year.

“SSE Enterprise Telecoms has a strong pedigree in delivering wind farm network infrastructure and a comprehensive understanding of the consequences, should a wind farm become un-operational,” Mick McCaffery, Seagreen Systems Project Manager, said.

”As such, we are confident they will bring the necessary experience and expertise to deliver a solution that will help prevent such a scenario. We’re pleased to have a partner of this calibre on board, which will undoubtedly be to the benefit of the region and the country at large. The UK needs to be generating 40GW of offshore wind power by 2030 to contribute toward Net Zero targets, so projects with the scale and ambition of Seagreen will be vital components of that low carbon vision.”