Offshore wind turbine jackets arrive at Port of Nigg in Highlands for Inverness-headquartered Global Energy Group
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Global Energy Group’s Port of Nigg heralded the safe arrival of the heavy lift vessel OHT Osprey with the first eight of what will be 103 jacket structures for the Moray East Offshore Wind Farm project for DEME Offshore.
The Port of Nigg was chosen as the foundations staging port for the construction of the 950MW offshore wind farm which will see 100 turbines and three offshore substation platforms being installed.
Global Energy Group has invested more than £50 million into the facilities at the Port of Nigg and are utilising some of its key companies and personnel who have the necessary experience and transferable skills to maximise the opportunities within the renewables marketplace.
Chairman Roy MacGregor said: “It has always been our desire to make the best use of Nigg Energy Park and I am delighted that DEME Offshore recognised we have the facilities, experience and skills to support them with this extremely exciting project.
"The Port of Nigg is an ideal staging port for the Moray East Project due to its deep-water access and the high ground bearing strength of its quay and storage areas. Great skill is required to safely manoeuvre the massive structures off the heavy lift vessel and into the storage areas. Each structure will then be moved back to the quayside storages areas at a later date where they will be lifted onboard DEME Offshore’s new heavy-lift installation vessel, Orion, which will be arriving at Nigg shortly.
"Our strategy over the last few years has been in energy transition within a changing and highly competitive marketplace. We have the diverse mix of facilities, people and supply and support companies to meet the requirements of our clients within the Cromarty Firth and further afield. This project highlights our capabilities are transferable across the multi energy markets which will be critical during this challenging time for our business.”
Moray East Offshore Wind Farm project director Marcel Sunier said: “I am grateful for all of the work and co-operation which has been undertaken to enable the Moray East project to progress safely in this challenging environment of the global health situation. Energy is one of 13 ‘critical sectors’ to the UK economy and Moray East is an essential project, which will provide plentiful low-carbon electricity at a world-leading low price. Moray East is strategically important to the security of the UK’s energy supply. It will help ensure that the UK’s economic recovery is not impeded by lack of access to low-cost, low carbon energy."
Bart De Poorter, general manager of DEME Offshore, said: “The safe arrival of these first eight jackets is a significant milestone and just the beginning of what are exciting times in the progress and timeline for the Moray East Offshore Wind Farm. We look forward to working with our local and global partners ensuring that this element of the supply chain meets all our aspirations for a safe, successful and timely delivery of the project. The next stage of the work will involve our pioneering offshore installation vessel Orion. Measuring 216m long and with a crane capacity of 5000 tonnes, this highly sophisticated DP3 vessel will carry up to five jackets on its deck at a time, before lifting them into the sea and precisely connecting with the pre-installed piles.”
These eight jackets are the starting point of the commencement of the Moray East project at Nigg. Once completed the Moray East Offshore Wind Farm development will have 100 MHI Vestas 9.5MW turbines supplying up to 950MW of power into the National Grid and is due to be operational by 2022.
