Moray EastMoray East Celebrates as Offshore Cable Arrives Onshore

10/08/20, 2:52 PM

Banff, 10 August 2020 Moray Offshore Windfarm (East) Ltd (known as Moray East) celebrated today as it announced that the first offshore export cable had successfully made landfall at Inverboyndie. 

To minimise environmental impact, the cable was pulled through an underground duct which runs from a point on the shoreline between Inverboyndie and Whitehills , below the coast, below the sea bed, and out to a point in the sea ca 1km  from the coast. 

The cable was pulled from the NKT cable laying ship, ‘Victoria’ through the duct by a winch on the shore.

The cable will be one of three which will take power from the offshore windfarm via underground cable to a new electricity substation on the national electricity transmission grid near New Deer.   The windfarm will provide enough low carbon power for over 950 0000 homes.

The installation of the offshore export cables (which connect the offshore windfarm to the shore) is being undertaken by NKT.

Moray East Project Director, Marcel Sunier said:

“This is another significant milestone  for the project and I would like to congratulate all those who have made it happen safely, despite the challenging conditions we are all working under at the moment.   Because it is underground and under the sea bed, the export cable is an unseen part of the project; but no less vital for that.  

“When our works are complete at Inverboyndie, visitors to the area will have no idea of the advanced engineering hidden below the ground which is bringing literally millions of watts of low-cost, low carbon power to homes and businesses across the land.

Project Manager Tommy Sturesson for Moray East at  NKT said::

“After several years of collaboration between NKT and Moray East we have finally reached this major milestone of installing the export cables. NKT is honoured being part of this major infra structure project and we are very much looking forward to this next phase of the project, connecting the Scottish public to the well-known winds in a modern fashion by also gaining electricity from it.”

Installation Works

NKT have been contracted to undertake works including the manufacture of approx. 185 km of 220 kV AC offshore export cables and their installation by the NKT Victoria cable-laying vessel and burial. Installation of the cables is expected to commence in 2020.

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%), Ocean Winds (56.6%) and CTG (10%).

The project financing agreements were signed on 28^th 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 6^th 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 2^nd 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

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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