The deepest wind turbine foundation in the world has been installed at Seagreen, 17 miles off the coast of Angus, United Kingdom. This is part of Scotland's biggest offshore wind farm, becoming its installed 112th turbine.
(Photo : CHRISTIAN CHARISIUS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Wind turbines are pictured during the installation of the RWE Offshore Wind farm Kaskasi off the coast of the north German Island of Helgoland on March 23, 2023.
World's Deepest Wind Turbine Foundation
SSE Renewables and TotalEnergies claimed that the world's deepest wind turbine foundation has been installed. According to Elektrek's report, this was transported by the company's main contractor Seaway 7, which is known as a jacket in the wind industry, and installed at at the Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm in Scotland.
The foundation was installed at Seagreen's site, 16.7 miles off the eastern coast at a depth of 58.6 meters or 192 feet. The foundation was met by the semi-submersible crane vessel Saipem 700 which has the capacity to lift each of the 2,000-tone turbine foundations into place.
SSE Chief Executive Alistair Phillips-Davies stated that installing the deepest foundation was an important step for both companies to complete the project and showed how they were able to innovate and extend their efforts to power and change the boundaries of technology.
Beating Previous Record
Installing this foundation means beating Seagreen's own record for the foundation installation last October 2022, at a depth of 57.4 meters or 188 feet. As per Project Director John Hill that more than 50 people contributed to the installation for it takes place, including the team for onshore, an engineer dedicated for ballast, tuh captain, a whole crew, team for mechanical, welders, a tow master, and a pilot.
Hill added that this effort aims to boost the country's energy security, with the consumers benefiting from the strong winds available in the North Sea, given the difficulty of the geographical area.
Offshore reported that the installation marks the 112th jacket out of 114 turbines offshore wind farms, costing them $3.74 billion from the joint venture between SSE Renewables and TotalEnergies. This project is set to conclude later this week with the installation of the final wind turbine foundation.
This will support Vestas V164-10 MW wind turbines that will power the equivalent of 1.6 million households. Seagreen already achieved its first power in August 2022 and will be fully operational by the summer of this year.
Also Read: This Startup Uses Robots to Clean Wind Turbines, Secures $38.9 Million Funding
Seagreen wind farm is part of the $15.6 billion investment of the company in projects that can accelerate the United Kingdom's efforts to become a net zero economy. SSE plans to invest in the UK alone for $29.9 billion alone by the end of the decade.
SSE is one of the biggest generators in the country when it comes to renewable energy. Aside from installing the world's deepest wind turbine foundation, The Guardian reported that the company is also in the middle of developing the world's largest offshore wind farm, located at Dogger Bank in the North Sea.
Phillips-Davies added that SSE Renewables will continue to build more offshore wind, especially since the UK already established its position as one of the key contributors in offshore wind. By 2030, the company will innovate its offerings by complying with the country's target of 50 GW of offshore wind.
Related Article: Swedish Companies to Use Wooden Wind Turbines for Future Wind Farms
