Seagreen Wind Farm
Scotland’s largest wind farm, Seagreen Alpha and Seagreen Bravo, owned by SSE and located around 25km off the Angus coastline covering an area of around 2,850Km2 in the outer Firth of Forth has been recently successful in securing a 15-year contract for 454MW at a strike price of £41.61/MWh in auction delivery year 2024/25. The Contract for Difference (CfD) represents 42% of the total project capacity with plans in place for a large part of the pipeline that will carry energy which will potentially land at Carnoustie and be connected to the grid at Tealing. This is expected to contribute over £1bn to the Scottish economy. Some key project statistics are:
- Phase one development area is approximately 400 km2
- Total distance offshore is approximately 27 km
- Phase 1 potential capacity is up to 1.5 GW
- Number of homes are expected to be powered is around 1 million
- Lifetime expected expenditure is £5.7 bn
- Potential operational jobs are up to 410 annually across UK
Benefits to Angus area:
Montrose Port has been selected as the preferred location for the Operations and Maintenance base for the landmark project of Seagreen for the duration of the 25 year operational phase.
The O&M base will provide:
- Warehousing for spares and equipment essential for maintaining Seagreen
- Welfare facilities for the personnel running and maintaining Seagreen
- Offices and meeting space
- Location for the Marine Coordination Centre – which manages day to day vessel movements to and from site
The main benefits to Angus will include:
- Ensuring ongoing investment and re-development of the existing facilities of the Montrose port,
- Bringing a wealth of opportunity for Angus Businesses of all sizes across a wide range of disciplines,
- Resulting in the creation of a considerable number of jobs in Angus throughout the lifetime of the project.
The electricity generated by the Seagreen turbines will be transmitted via subsea export cables to a landfall at Carnoustie. Once ashore, the electricity is then transmitted from Carnoustie to new Tealing substation via underground cables for a distance of approximately 19km.
The installation of the cable will provide significant employment and business opportunities for the up to two year installation period.
Seagreen will build a new substation at Tealing which will receive the electricity generated by the wind farm for conversion up to 400kV for onward transmission on the national electricity transmission system.
The construction of the substation will lead to numerous opportunities not only in the actual construction which will take around two years to complete but also in the fabrication of the component parts.
In addition, local people and businesses will benefit from opportunities such as the provision of plant and materials and other services such as accommodation and food for the site operatives.
