A specialist wind farm vessel has arrived at the Port of Dundee to transport turbine towers to the North Sea.
The Brave Tern’s arrival follows several months of delays on the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm project.
The white towers, which stand around 90 metres tall, have become a familiar sight to thousands of motorists passing the port each day.
The Courier revealed in March that the Blue Tern which was being used to transport the towers, blades and nacelles moved to another job.
It left 12 turbine towers standing at the Port of Dundee for the remainder of last year.
Neart na Gaoithe completion date
The Brave Tern is a self-elevating and self-propelled jack-up offshore wind turbine installation vessel operated by Fred Olsen Windcarrier. It is 132 metres long and carries a typical payload of 9,500 tonnes.
Its arrival brings more certainty on when the £1.8 billion NnG project will be completed.
NnG project director Matthias Haag said the remaining turbines will be commissioned this summer.
He said: “The Brave Tern wind turbine installation vessel has arrived in the Port of Dundee to support the completion of the construction of the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm.
“35 turbines have already been fully installed and are now generating clean, green energy for the National Grid.
“The Brave Tern will take the remaining towers, nacelles and blades sets out to the wind farm site, where they will be installed and commissioned this summer.”
Port of Dundee wind farm projects
The 54 turbines on the NnG project will have production capacity of 450 megawatts, enough to power 375,000 homes. It is located around 10 miles off the Fife coast.
It is jointly owned by EDF Renewables and Irish energy company ESB. The Port of Dundee has been used as a storage and assembly site for the parts.
NnG previously blamed bad weather at the end of 2023 for the project’s delays.
The operator previously said that despite being unable to transport the turbine parts from the Port of Dundee, work has continued at sea.
NnG said 35 of the turbines are fully installed and commissioned, three are partially installed and 16 remain to be transported from Dundee.
The Port of Dundee has also been selected as the pre-assembly and marshalling site for the construction of the 1.1 gigawatt Inch Cape project.
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