Neart Na Gaoithe offshore wind farm is an offshore project in the Scottish borders located at the North Sea, in the Outer Firth of Forth, near Edinburgh, Scotland. The Scottish government benefits from the £1.4bn project in the Scottish territorial waters.
The project will go live in 2024. Based on the UK’s average domestic electricity consumption, the 450 MW offshore wind farm will power up to 391,000 households.
Neart Na Gaoithe Project History
In 2009, the Crown Estate granted Mainstream Renewables Power an exclusive right to develop the site 15.5 km off the Fife coast into an offshore wind farm.
Mainstream Renewables submitted its planning application in 2012. The UK government granted full consent two years later, in October 2014. Still, legal challenges in 2015 slowed down the project’s construction.
In January 2015, RSPB challenged the project. Local courts blocked the project in July 2016. A few months later, in May 2017, The Edinburg Inner House Court overturned the 2016 ruling. RSPB also challenged Inch Cape and Seagreen, and the court also allowed those to proceed.
Out of the ten sites awarded by Crown Estate in 2008, Neart Na Gaoithe is only one of two that came to construction.
The offshore construction work began in August 2020, including laying cables that will eventually connect to the onshore substation after going through the East Lothian council.
How large is the Neart Na Gaoithe offshore wind farm project?
Neart Na Gaoithe offshore wind farm is in the North Sea. It occupies about 105 square kilometers.
Where is the Neart Na Gaoithe Wind farm?
Neart Na Gaoithe wind farm is 15 kilometers away from the coast of Fife on the eastern Scottish border.
Who are the Neart Na Gaoithe Contractors?
The Neart Na Gaoithe project hired tier one contractors who will deliver the significant components of the project. These contractors are Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), Saipem, General Electric (GE) Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions, Prysmian Group, DEME Offshore, and Fred Olsen Windcarrier.
Who owns Neart Na Gaoithe Wind Farm?
Neart Na Gaoithe is jointly owned by EDF Renewables and ESB, with an even 50:50 participation in the project. EDF bought 100% of the project from Mainstream Renewable energy in 2018 following a competitive bidding process, then sold 50% of its stake to ESB.
When is the first power of Neart Na Gaoithe Wind Farm?
Covid-19 delays pushed back first power into June 2023. EDF also adjusted the project’s commissioning to 2024.
Is it a fixed or floating foundation?
The foundation is a fixed bottom, stabilizing the turbine towers in water depths between 40 and 60 meters deep. Saipem 7000 will install the turbine jackets in 2023 before the installation of the turbines. This project is Saipem’s first turnkey offshore wind farm project.
How much total power does the project produce?
The project will produce 450 MW, delivered by Siemens Gamesa turbines carrying 8 MW capacity each.
Neart Na Gaoithe Offshore Substations
GE was awarded the offshore substation contract–from the design, civil, and groundworks to supply and commission. GE was also awarded the contract for the onshore substations; all in all, GE will provide STATCOM, telecommunications, power transformers, power quality components, SCADA, switchgear, and reactors. The partners of GE are HSM Offshore BV and IV-One for delivering the offshore substation.
Neart Na Gaoithe Turbines
EDF Renewables will install 54 turbines in the Neart Na Gaoithe project. The Port of Dundee will host all turbine manufacturing and inventory. The turbines will remain there until the assembly in 2022. Each turbine has an 8 MW capacity factor, bringing the total wind farm to 432 MW.
Siemens developed and constructed the turbines. Since March 2022, hundreds of components of the SWT-8-167 have been delivered by Siemens via River Tay to the Port of Dundee and brought alongside the new Duneco quay.
The major milestone was a celebration for the improved Port of Dundee, which received £40m from the project to be an assembly site for the turbines.