United Kingdom – The first of two offshore energy substations has been installed at the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm, which is being built 15 kilometers off the coast of Fife.
This means that before the project’s 54 wind turbines are installed in 2023, NnG can be fully connected to the National Grid. Saipem employed the Heerema Sleipnir, the world’s largest offshore wind installation vessel, to lay the 1100 tonne topside onto one of the two foundation jackets.
Last year, the Saipem 7000 and Saipem 3000 construction vessels prepared the novel ‘rock socket’ seabed supports for the jackets in a water depth of roughly 50 meters to anchor the offshore substation to the seabed.
Completion in 2024
The energy generated by the offshore wind farm’s turbines will be exported via NnG’s two offshore substations to its onshore substation, where it will be connected to the National Grid’s entry point at Crystal Rig in East Lothian. The first turbines will be online in mid-2023, with the entire wind farm expected to be completed in 2024.
NnG will have a capacity of around 450MW and will be jointly owned by EDF Renewables and ESB. It will provide low-carbon electricity to about 375,000 homes while also reducing CO2 emissions by around 400,000 tonnes each year.
