Seajacks Scylla installs first foundation at Moray East offshore wind farm

The first jacket foundation is now in place at the Moray East offshore wind farm in Scotland. DEME Offshore, in charge of the installation works, is currently using the Seajacks Scylla jack-up vessel to install the jackets.

The 950 MW offshore wind project will comprise 100 MHI Vestas 9.5 MW wind turbines and three offshore substations, all of which will be installed on jacket foundations.

“Despite the ongoing challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic and a last-minute crane failure prior to the delivery of DEME’s newbuild offshore installation vessel ‘Orion’, DEME Offshore has achieved the installation of the first jacket in good time and got this phase of the project off to a strong start”, DEME Offshore stated in a press release on 6 July.

DEME’s installation vessel Orion, initially scheduled to be deployed for Moray East jacket installation, was replaced by Seajacks Scylla following an accident on board Orion at the beginning of May, when the vessel’s crane hook broke, leaving several people injured and damaging the vessel’s crane and deck.

A few days after the accident, DEME revealed it was looking for another vessel to fulfill its contract for the Moray East project.

The company has been contracted for the design, fabrication and installation of the 103 foundations, and the installation of three topsides for the project’s substations (Offshore Transformer Modules; OTMs).

The first of the three OTM topsides is now also on the way to be installed.

The Moray East offshore wind farm, developed by ENGIE and EDP Renewables, is scheduled to be fully operational in 2022.