The first offshore wind turbine was installed last Friday at the Moray East offshore wind farm in the Moray Firth, Scotland.
The first turbine installation comes just a few weeks after the Moray East consortium announced the completion of jacket installation - with 100 three-legged steel foundations installed on the seabed.
The offshore wind farm is being developed by Moray Offshore Windfarm East Ltd (MOWEL), which is a joint venture company owned by Ocean Winds ( 56.6%) Diamond Green Limited (33.4%) and CTG (10%).
Turbine components have been arriving in the Moray Firth, where they have been stored and preserved onshore.
Pre-assembly work is being undertaken at Global Energy’s facility at Nigg. Turbines components are loaded onto an installation vessel and taken to site; the offshore installation will be completed by MHI Vestas and Fred Olsen. In total, 100 9.5MW turbines will be installed
Moray East’s WTG Package Manager Ewan Watson said: “A turbine is the most iconic representation of the new offshore wind industry, and I am delighted to issue images of Moray East’s first turbine, a proudly towering 200m representation of engineering success against some of the most challenging circumstances the world has known.
Moray East’s Project Director, Marcel Sunier said: "Moray East is the country’s largest infrastructure project, and a massive amount of effort – represented by tonnes of steel and kilometers of cable – much of this below ground or sea - have been required to get us to this point.
"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 were 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."
The 950MW wind farm is expected to be operational by 2022. Moray East will generate sufficient electricity to save 1.4 million tonnes CO₂ equivalent annually (assuming displacement of gas generation).
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