The jack-up vessel Blue Tern has arrived at the offshore construction site of the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm in Scotland as the installation of the project’s wind turbines has now begun. Earlier this month, the crane vessel Thialf completed the second phase of the installation of wind turbine jacket foundations.
The work on installing the wind farm’s 54 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW turbines is being done out of the Port of Dundee, which is serving as the project’s marshalling yard. The nacelles for the 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe started coming into the port in June, with the first towers already being assembled at that time.
Blue Tern arrived at the Port of Dundee on 8 July, according to the vessel’s AIS data.
The commissioning of the wind turbines will be carried out using the vessel HST Swansea , with the installation work being supported by crew transfer vessels (CTVs) Farra Ciara and Channel Chieftain VI .
The wind turbines are being installed on the jacket foundations, 33 of which are now in place at the project site, located 15 kilometres off the coast of Fife.
The first ten wind turbine foundations were installed in the fourth quarter of last year. On 9 July, the heavy lift vessel Thialf completed the second phase of the installation which included 22 jackets.
The jackets were brought directly to the site by four barges: AMT Crusader , AMT Challenger , AMT CD-1 , Ranbarge 1 , and one assist tug vessel Blygia , with the heavy transport vessel Xin Yao Hua supporting the lifting activities.
The Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm, owned by EDF Renewables and ESB, is expected have the first wind turbines online this year and to become fully operational in 2024.
Once fully commissioned, the 450 MW offshore wind farm will supply enough electricity for around 375,000 households and offset over 400,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.