Moray East
Moray East Welcomes Mid – Point of Jacket Arrivals From Newcastle
1/10/20, 1:40 PM
Edinburgh 26 September 2020: Moray Offshore Windfarm (East) Ltd (known as ‘Moray East’) has welcomed the arrival of the 26th jacket in Nigg from Newcastle – successfully marking the half-way point of delivery of European-fabricated jackets for the project.
The jackets are the three-legged steel foundations on which electrical infrastructure is installed at sea.
The “GSMEC” - Geosea Smulders Moray East Consortium - between DEME Offshore and Smulders was awarded the full work scope for the 103 jackets required for the Moray East project, (100 for turbines and 3 for offshore substation platforms), the majority of these (55) for the wind turbine foundations are being fabricated by Smulders in Europe.
Owing to their size, the three-legged jackets structures are fabricated in two sections, upper and lower; 35 of the upper sections are being fabricated in Belgium and the remaining 20 in Spain.
The 55 lower sections are fabricated in Newcastle. The upper sections are sent from continental Europe to Newcastle at Smulders’ Wallsend facility, where they are mated with the lower sections.
The completed jackets are then sent by sea to Global Energy’s facility at Nigg, from which they are prepared for installation on site in the Moray Firth. It is anticipated that jacket transport from Newcastle will continue until the end of the year when all jackets are expected to have been fabricated and delivered.
Commenting, Moray East Project Director Marcel Sunier said:
“Despite the challenges of Covid, and the issue of travel and the global supply chain, the steady flow of steel across Europe as it undergoes transformation into the massive jackets structures finally assembled at Newcastle and prepared for installation at Nigg continues at a steady rate.
“I would like to thank all of those who have made this possible including the ca.500 staff at Smulders yard in Newcastle, despite dynamic and challenging conditions.
Lieven Van Hileghem, Smulders’ Senior Project Manager for the Moray East Project said:
“Thanks to the hard work of all our employees and subcontractors, Smulders mitigated several challenges, including COVID over the last couple of months. We were able to continue working on the 55 Moray East jackets while still meeting the project’s initial milestones. An achievement to be proud of! This weekend, we’re pleased to mark the 26th jacket delivery in Nigg as well as the final lower jacket sail away at our yard in Hoboken. We remain on track to deliver fully assembled jackets at a consist output ratio, all according plan.”
Global Energy Group’s Operations Director, Charlie Morrison commented:
“We are pleased to see yet another milestone of the project achieved as we welcome the 26th European jacket to the Port of Nigg. Our facility has proved to be the ideal staging & marshalling port for the Moray East project due to our deep water facilities and highly skilled workforce. Well done to the entire supply chain so far for this achievement. We look forward to seeing the project progress through to completion.”
Notes To Editors
Image
Moray East Project Statistics
- Capacity: 950MW
- Location: UK, Moray Firth, closest point to shore, 22km from shore.
- Turbines: 100 V164 – 9.5MW
- Power for average requirements of ca. 950, 000 UK homes
- Moray East will generate sufficient electricity to save 1.4 million tonnes CO₂ equivalent annually (assuming displacement of gas generation)
- Power will be generated at £57.50/MWhr, the lowest cost of any new renewable generation and 2/3 less than offshore windfarms in operation around the UK today (typically upward of £140/MWhr)
Moray East Project Ownership & Finance:
The 950MW 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%).
The project financing agreements were signed on 28th November 2018 with a syndicate of commercial banks as well as EKF, Denmark’s Export Credit Agency (“EKF”) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (“JBIC”). The financing is composed of both project finance, which includes a senior debt facility of £2.1 billion, along with other debt facilities of £0.5 billion, and an equity bridge loan facility to cover part of the equity needs. Financial close occurred on 6th of December 2018.
In September 2017, MOWEL was awarded a 15-year Contract for Difference (CfD) by the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (“BEIS”) for the delivery of 950MW of offshore wind generation at £57.5/MWh (2012 tariff-based). The wind farm is expected to be operational by 2022.
Moray East Project Timeline:
2010 – project development commenced when development rights were won in the UK’s 3rd round of offshore wind licencing. The Moray Firth Zone (Zone 1) was split into two, Moray East and Moray West. For technical reasons, Moray East was developed first
2014 – planning consent was awarded by the Scottish Government (offshore works) and Aberdeenshire Council (onshore works)
2017 – A 950MW Contract for Difference (CfD) was won in the UK Government’s 2nd competitive CfD auction. The CfD provides a contract for electricity for 15 years at £57.50/MWhr
2018 – Project announced signing of finance agreements and achieves financial close
2020 – 2022 – Commissioning expected in 2020 / early 2021 and fully operation by 2022
Moray East Key Facts
- Consent for construction of up to 1,116MW granted in 2016
- CfD for 950MW awarded in 2017
- Connection to National Grid at a new substation to be constructed at New Deer in Aberdeenshire via underground cable (planning permission granted by Aberdeenshire Council in 2014)
- Total underground export cable corridor route 86km (52km offshore and 34km onshore)
- Total wind farm Area – 295km2
- Maximum turbine blade-tip height – 204m (669 feet)
- Minimum distance from shore – 22km (13.5 miles).
-
40%
Of Scotland's electricity will be provided
-
1.7
Million tonnes of CO2 emissions saved every year
-
1.43
Million homes throughout the UK could be powered
500
Kilometers of cabling will be installed across the site
