First Turbine Stands at Moray East Offshore Wind Farm

The first of the 100 MHI Vestas V164-9.5MW wind turbines has been installed at the Moray East wind farm offshore Scotland.

The installation of the wind turbines is being undertaken by MHI Vestas, using Global Energy’s facility at the Port of Nigg in North East Scotland as the onshore pre-assembly port.

Fred. Olsen Windcarrier’s jack-up Bold Tern loaded the first sets of wind turbines and departed the Port of Nigg on 12 January. The first turbine was completed on 15 January.

“Moray East is the country’s largest infrastructure project, and a massive amount of effort – represented by tonnes of steel and kilometres of cable – much of this below ground or sea – have been required to get us to this point,” Moray East’s Project Director, Marcel Sunier, said.

“I am delighted to be able to announce one of the project’s most visible and distinctive milestones – the safe and successful installation of our first wind turbine. This is a truly amazing team effort considering the circumstances under which the teams had to work to achieve that important milestone. The resilience and good co-operation was one of the key factors in achieving this. I am looking forward to see the remaining 99 wind turbines being installed safely and successfully during the forthcoming months and wish to thank all those involved in making this happen.”

Located some 22 kilometres off the Aberdeenshire coast, the 950 MW Moray East wind farm is being developed by Moray Offshore Windfarm East Ltd (MOWEL), a joint venture company owned by Ocean Winds (56.6%) Diamond Green Limited (33.4%), and CTG (10%).

The project is scheduled to be fully commissioned in 2022.