The Port of Dundee has secured a prized contract to assemble the tallest turbines ever deployed in Scottish waters.
After a competitive bidding process, Dundee will be used assemble the gigantic wind turbines for the Inch Cape project.
Inch Cape, located 12 kilometres off the Angus coast, has consent for tip heights of up to 291 metres.
This is roughly 50% higher than the Seagreen project, which started generating power this month.
Work pre-assembling the 72 turbine blades and towers will come to the Port of Dundee in 2025. At least 50 workers will be required for the process.
Why are turbines coming to Port of Dundee?
An investment of more than £40 million by Forth Ports on optimising the Port of Dundee has been key to securing the new contract.
The port has an area the size of 20 football pitches to store and marshal the blades as well as 500 metres of quayside with heavy lift capabilities.
The Inch Cape team was also encouraged by similar work currently taking place at the port for the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore project.
Adam Ezzamel, project director, said: “The port is ideally-sited for our construction operation and offers us the area we require for the number – and sheer scale – of the turbines we will be deploying.
“Offshore construction is a specialist area. The Port of Dundee offers us a management team with the experience and capability to deal with the logistical challenges to be managed during our construction phase.”
Next steps for Inch Cape project
Inch Cape will generate 1.1 gigawatts of power, enough for 1.7 million homes.
In the next 12 months its “tier 1” suppliers will be named. It aims to complete the financial closure for the project at the end of 2023.
The focus of 2024 will be the turbine parts, with work pre-assembling the turbine blades, towers and nacelles, which house the turbine generators, coming to Dundee in 2025.
First power is due in 2025, with the project complete in 2026. The operation and maintenance base for the project will be at the Port of Montrose.
Delight for Dundee
Work assembling turbines for NnG will end next year. There will be around a year’s gap before Inch Cape turbines arrive in 2025. The port is hoping to attract smaller projects for 2024.
Forth Ports’ director of energy David Webster said it was a “significant” deal for the port.
He said: “We invested £40m over the past few years to build the renewables facility here. Our approach of ‘build it and they will come’ is paying off.
“Dundee’s proximity to the project site in the North Sea and the natural deep waters of the Tay makes the port ideally suited to the requirements of this major contract for Inch Cape.”
Dundee City Council leader John Alexander adds: “This is a vote of confidence in the quality of the infrastructure here.
“The scale of this project is unrivalled, with a level of ambition which is set to redefine offshore wind.”
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