Moray EastMoray East Announces Installation of First Turbine
15/01/21, 2:22 PM
Edinburgh 15 January 2021 Moray East has announced the successful milestone of its first turbine installation, issuing photos of the first of 100 9.5MW turbines in the Moray Firth.
In December, Moray East announced the completion of jacket installation - with 100 three-legged steel foundations installed on the sea-bed. 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, comprising of 5 lifts, will be completed by MHI Vestas and Fred Olsen .
The first turbine was completed today.
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 Head of Construction Enrique Alvarez Cordobes said“This has demanded precision engineering with massive components, requiring excellent co-operation and co-ordination between a range of companies both on land and at sea, and I would like to offer my thanks and congratulations to all those who have made this most distinctive and visible milestone possible.“
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 kilometres 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 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.”
Notes To Editors
Installation Works
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.
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 Diamond Green Limited (33.4%), EDPR (33.3 %), ENGIE (23.3%) 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 operational 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
