Construction starts at Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm site

Scottish offshore wind farm Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) has entered the first phase of offshore construction, with Saipem’s vessel S7000 set to start installing pile casings at the site some 15 kilometres off the Fife coast.

The 197.5-metre semi-submersible crane vessel will also prepare the seabed for the jacket foundations for the project’s 54 wind turbines and two offshore substations.

In 2019, EDF Renewables selected Saipem as the EPCI contractor for the jacket foundations and the transportation and installation of the substation topsides.

The jackets are being manufactured partly at a Saipem-owned yard and partly in fabrication facilities located in Scotland. 

Neart na Gaoithe construction started in November 2019 with onshore works, which are still under way at various locations along the cable route, starting at Thorntonloch beach and finishing in the Lammermuir Hills.

The 450 MW offshore wind farm will feature 54 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW turbines and two GE Renewable Energy Grid Solutions’ offshore substations.

Neart na Gaoithe, owned by EDF Renewables and ESB, is expected to be commissioned in 2023.