Wind farm Seagreen has achieved full operational status, SSE subsidiary SSE Renewables and its partner TotalEnergies have announced.
114 Vestas V164-10.0 MW turbines at Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm have all been switched on, taking the country a step closer to net zero.
The 1,075MW wind farm has enough capacity to power nearly 1.6 million homes annually – approximately two-thirds of all homes in Scotland – displacing over 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from electricity generated by fossil fuels every year.
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, said the project is “a fantastic example of the work being done to unleash Scotland’s renewable potential” and that would take the nation one step closer to “creating a net zero energy system that delivers affordable, secure and clean energy”.
The facility is located 27km off the Angus coast in the North Sea’s Firth of Forth. In addition to being the largest wind farm in Scotland, Seagreen is also the world’s deepest fixed-bottom offshore wind farm, with foundations reaching a record depth of 58.7 metres below sea level.
“Offshore wind is a resounding British success story, and Seagreen becoming fully operational is yet more proof of our world-leading status,” said UK energy security secretary Claire Coutinho. “Not only has it become Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm, but it also results in the UK having the world’s five largest operational wind farms off its shores.”
Alistair Phillips-Davies, chief executive of SSE plc, said: “This is a big milestone for Seagreen and for Scotland. It shows that this country not only has world-class renewable resources, but also world-class teams able to deliver major clean energy projects at scale.”
Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, said: “This 1GW project is a new step in delivering our strategy of building a world-class, cost-competitive portfolio of renewable energy to deliver clean, reliable and affordable power to our customers.”
Last month, the UK’s renewable energy strategy suffered a blow when no new offshore wind projects were bought by developers at the latest Contracts for Difference auction. A report by Robert Gordon University found that up to 95,000 jobs in the UK’s offshore energy sector would be at risk if the rate of investment and activity in UK renewables did not increase significantly.
Scotland has been, nonetheless, one of the UK regions to make the largest bets on wind power. The Seagreen project alone supported a £1bn-plus economic boost to the Scottish economy during construction, supporting around 4,000 Scottish jobs, according to independent analysis published by PwC.
Last week, the National Grid connected Dogger Bank in the North Sea, set to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm, to the UK electricity transmission network. In 2022, a study found that the UK would need to triple its current rate of wind turbine installation in order to meet renewable energy targets.
