Seagreen

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Montrose Port: Operations Hub for Scotland’s Largest Wind Farm

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The 1,075MW 114-turbine Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm project is located 27km off the coast of Angus.

A £3bn joint venture between SSE Renewables and TotalEnergies, Seagreen is Scotland’s largest and deepest fixed-bottom offshore wind farm that is fully operational.

The wind farm is capable of providing enough electricity for more than 1.6 million homes, around two thirds of all households in Scotland, displacing over 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from electricity generated by fossil fuels every year.

A £1.8 million community benefit fund has also been created to provide a lasting legacy for the town and wider Angus region.

Port key facts:
24/7/365
operation
59 acre
port estate
quayside:
1000m
berth depth:
8m
42,000m2
internal space
130,000m2
open storage space
3x
HEAVY LIFT
PADS

Operations and Maintenance Base

In 2019, Montrose Port was selected by SSE Renewables as the preferred location for its Operations and Maintenance base for the Seagreen offshore wind farm. The operations base construction was completed in late 2021 with vessel movements starting to depart from Montrose to Seagreen in early 2022.

The operations building was repurposed from a two-storey modular office block that was previously used by an oil and gas supply chain company in Aberdeen. In recycling the building, we have been able to contribute towards the circular economy, reusing over 54 tonnes of steel and saving 99 tonnes of CO2. The main contractor on the construction was Montrose-based company, Pert Bruce, with the steel work being subcontracted out to another Montrose company, Harry Maiden.

Ensuring that local and regional based companies are used for any construction, where possible, is a key principle for the Seagreen project as we want as many people as possible to feel the benefits from the project by keeping business within the regional economy.

Communications Mast & Pontoon

Another development at Seagreen that contributed to the circular economy was the recycling of a communications mast by Aberdeen-based company, PD&MS Group. The company repurposed an existing structure from the Moray East Offshore Wind Farm and had the installation complete at Montrose in August 2021. By recycling the 50m communications mast, PD&MS were able to reduce their resources by 68% and saw an almost 50% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to manufacturing a new mast from scratch.

August 2021 also saw the new dedicated 30m pontoon for Seagreen being awarded to Lossiemouth-based company, Inland & Coastal Marina System UK Ltd. The pontoon was completed in December 2021, providing crew vessels a dedicated mooring, near their O&M base in which to efficiently manage crew transfers to the offshore wind farm.

Job Creation

The Seagreen O&M base will be home to approximately 80 full-time (direct) operational roles including up to 60 Vestas personnel maintaining the turbines both from the O&M base and offshore service operations vessels, the Edda Brint, which visits the port every 2-3 weeks to rotate crew, staff and replenish the offshore warehouse.

There will also be a numerous amount of indirect roles and specialised contractors supporting Seagreen and its O&M base throughout the wind farm's lifetime.

For job opportunities with Seagreen, please visit their recruitment page.

Montrose Port public meeting for Seagreen

Community Involvement & Stakeholders

Since being awarded the contract in 2019, we have worked closely with local stakeholders and residents to ensure that we consistently operate in a fair and transparent manner for everybody’s benefit.
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Following concerns raised by port stakeholders including Ferryden fishermen and local residents about the design of the floating pontoon, SSE Renewables and Montrose Port Authority adapted the initial designs so that the pontoon would now be located alongside Berth 5 as now reflected in the map above.
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Activity Pack

Seagreen has collaborated with the Port for a number of community projects. In October 2021, we distributed an activity pack electronically to school pupils across Angus and south Aberdeenshire. The pack teaches children about the renewable energy industry growing on their doorstep, hoping to inspire the next generation of talent to consider a career in the industry.
Download pack here
Montrose Port and Seagreen time capsule burial

Time Capsule

To mark St Andrew’s Day 2021 and its commitment to ensuring a lasting community benefit, Seagreen joined us in burying a time capsule next to the completed operations building. Items selected by pupils from neighbouring Ferryden Primary School were buried in the capsule that will be unearthed in 25 years’ time - the minimum lifespan of the new Seagreen offshore wind farm.

Children from schools across Montrose were also invited to suggest names for the new Seagreen O&M building. P5 pupil, Lilly Hill, came out on top with the building to be colloquially known as ‘Windy Waves House’. Every pupil at Ferryden Primary and its nursery were given a book token from both MPA and Seagreen as an expression of our appreciation for naming the building and their contribution on the time capsule.

Seagreen Facts:

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Environment

Our commitment to sustainability
Read about the Port’s sustainability efforts and what we have been doing for the environment in our aim to be the greenest port in Scotland.
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Careers

Opportunities in the maritime industry

View and apply for career opportunities at Montrose Port Authority and across of maritime network.

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Our Community

Stories from the port and the local area
At the heart of Montrose, success at the Port has a knock on effect for the town and surrounding areas and the benefits are also felt the other way round too.
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Quayside Services

Our partners at the port

We work with a number of third-party organisations to keep our customers moving and the port running efficiently. Learn more about what we offer for our customers at the Port.