Third Jacket Installation Campaign to Begin at Neart na Gaoithe

August 9, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

The third phase of the installation of wind turbine jacket foundations at the Neart Na Gaoithe offshore wind farm in Scotland is scheduled to start on or around 11 August, with the heavy lift vessel Thialf set to install eleven jackets within this campaign.

The jackets will be brought directly to the site from the location of fabrication by barges and the tug vessels Atlantic Merlin, Manta, Pacific Discovery and Maersk Handler will be used to support the position of the heavy transport vessels (HTVs) during the lifting activities.

Before jacket installation, the offshore support vessel (OSV) Normand Sentinel will undertake pile cleaning and a visual survey via a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Following jacket installation, the vessel Normand Navigator will grout the pile-jacket connections.

The first ten wind turbine foundations were installed in the fourth quarter of last year, with Heerema Marine Contractors, which is working on the project under a contract with Sapiem, using its deepwater construction vessel Balder.

For the second campaign, the company deployed Thialf, the world’s second-largest semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV), which installed 22 jackets by 9 July this year.

The installation of Neart na Gaoithe’s offshore wind turbines is now also underway after the first of the project’s 54 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW turbines was installed last month.

The wind turbines are being installed by Fred. Olsen Windcarrier which is using its installation vessel Blue Tern for the work.

Located 15 kilometres off the coast of Fife, the 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm is scheduled to be fully commissioned in 2024, when it will start supplying enough electricity for around 375,000 households per year.