Scotland’s largest windfarm, Moray East, today announced that it had installed the last of its 100 Vestas V164-9.5 MW turbines at sea. The windfarm began generating when its first few turbines came online in June and has been gradually increasing output as more turbines are firstly installed, then commissioned. The commissioning work which will enable the project to achieve full output of 950MW is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
Final turbine installation on Moray East. Image Credit: Vestas
Project Director Enrique Alvarez said:
“In the face of unprecedented global conditions we have safely completed the installation of 100 turbines within the challenging timescale of a single season, and I would like to thank and congratulate all those involved in achieving this milestone safely.
“Just a decade ago, commercial-scale offshore wind generation in water depths of 50m and more was a vision. We have not only turned that into a reality, but are generating power at less than half the cost of earlier windfarms in shallow water, close to shore.
“Now we turn to the task of commissioning the turbines and bringing the windfarm up to its full generating capacity – ultimately enough to meet ca. 40 per cent of Scotland’s domestic electricity needs”
Vestas Project Director Allan Birk Wisby added:
“Vestas is proud to have completed delivery and installation of the 100 V164-9.5 MW turbines to the Moray East project, which is a significant step in the right direction of the decarbonisation of Scotland’s energy mix. Amidst the challenges of Covid-19, the Vestas and Moray East teams have collaborated tremendously well, installing some of the most powerful turbines in the world safely and on schedule. This has been an excellent achievement by all the project partners and all companies involved in installation.”
Video footage available at https://vimeo.com/605016877