Seagreen - Phase One

Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm - Phase One Profile

Location and Geography

The Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm is located in the Firth of Forth Development Zone of the North Sea, approximately 27 kilometers off the coast of Angus, Scotland.

Ownership and Development

The Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm is a joint venture between:

• SSE Renewables (49%)
• TotalEnergies (25.5%)
• PTTEP (25.5%), although PTTEP joined the consortium in 2024.

SSE Renewables is responsible for the development, construction, and operation of the wind farm, with support from TotalEnergies.

Capacity and Turbines

• The Seagreen 1 wind farm has a total installed capacity of 1.075 GW (initially planned) but has been increased to 1.5 GW with the approval of additional turbines.
• The wind farm features 114 Vestas V164-10.0 MW wind turbine generators, each with a nameplate capacity of 10 MW. These turbines have a maximum height to the tip of the blade of 204 meters and a blade diameter of 164 meters.
• There is consent for an additional 36 turbines, which, when installed, will bring the total number of turbines to 150 and increase the capacity to 1.5 GW.

Foundations and Infrastructure

• The wind turbines are mounted on fixed bottom foundations, with some of the deepest fixed bottom jacket foundations in the world, installed at water depths of up to 58.6 meters.
• The foundations include monopile foundations with a diameter of 10 meters and a length of 95 meters.
• The turbines are interconnected with up to 325 kilometers of inter-array cables.

Construction and Operational Timeline

• Early works on the Seagreen 1 project began in January 2020.
• Foundation installation commenced in October 2021, and the installation of turbines began in December 2021.
• The first power was generated in August 2022, and the wind farm became fully operational in October 2023.

Energy Production and Impact

• The Seagreen wind farm is expected to generate 5,000 GWh of clean energy per year, sufficient to power approximately 1.6 million Scottish households, which is equivalent to two-thirds of all Scottish homes.
• The wind farm will offset over 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, similar to removing more than a third of all Scotland’s annual car emissions, significantly contributing to Scotland’s net-zero ambition by 2045.

Environmental and Regulatory Approvals

• The development rights for the project were received from the Crown Estate in 2010.
• Environmental approval for the Alpha and Bravo offshore wind farms was obtained in 2012, and the Scottish government granted consent for the development of phase one in October 2014.
• A 15-year Contract for Difference (CfD) for 454 MW was secured in September 2019, and the Final Investment Decision was made in June 2020.

Economic and Social Impact

• The project is expected to create up to 410 jobs, including roles at the Port of Nigg and the Operations & Maintenance (O&M) base at Montrose Port.
• The Seagreen Community Benefit Fund has been established to benefit communities in Angus, with a total investment of £1.8 million over several years.

Power Purchase and Grid Connection

• The power generated from the project is sold to Statkraft UK under a power purchase agreement with a contracted capacity of 570 MW.
• Power is exported via underground cables from landfall at Carnoustie to a new substation at Tealing near Dundee, and additional power will be connected to the grid via Cockenzie, East Lothian.

Maintenance and Operations

• Vestas Offshore Wind is the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contractor for the wind farm for a period of 15 years.
• The O&M base at Montrose Port will be home to approximately 80 full-time operational roles, including up to 60 Vestas personnel, along with indirect roles and specialized contractors.