World's deepest wind turbine foundation installed off Scottish coast

SSE Renewables has announced the successful installation of a wind turbine foundation at a depth of 58.6 metres off the coast of Angus, Scotland.

Installation took place at the Seagreen wind farm, a project resulting from a £3 billion ($3.7 billion) joint venture between SSE Renewables and TotalEnergies.

It's said to be the world’s deepest wind turbine foundation, topping a previous Seagreen record of 57.4 metres (approximately 188 feet) set in October 2022.

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According to SSE Renewables, the foundation was transported to the project site on a barge operated by Seaway 7. The semisubmersible crane vessel, Saipem 7000, then lifted each of the 2,000-tonne turbine foundations into place.

John Hill, Seagreen’s project director said: "More than 50 people are involved each time a foundation installation takes place including the onshore team, ballast engineer, tug captain, crew, riggers, welders, tow master and pilot.

"Our ability to install jackets at this depth, in what is a challenging geographical area, boosts the UK’s energy security and means that consumers can benefit from the strong winds available far out in the North Sea."

The project will see the installation of 114 Vestas V164-10 MW turbines with a total installed generating capacity of 1,075MW.

When complete, the 1.1GW Seagreen wind farm will be capable of generating around 5,000 GWh of renewable energy annually, enough to power more than 1.6 million UK homes.

The first power was achieved in August 2022 and was exported to the grid via a substation at Tealing near Dundee.

The offshore wind farm is expected to enter commercial operation later this year.