Seagreen
Montrose Port: Operations Hub for Scotland’s Largest Wind Farm
A £3bn joint venture between SSE Renewables and Total, Seagreen will be Scotland’s largest and deepest offshore wind farm when complete.
Once in commercial operation in 2023, the wind farm is expected to provide enough electricity for 1.6 million homes, around two thirds of all households in Scotland. A £1.8million community benefit fund has been created to provide a lasting legacy for the town and wider Angus region.
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 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
Sea Wave Energy Limited (SWEL) aims to employ up to 50 roles at the base and turbine maintenance contractor, Vestas, will aim to employ up to 10.
Vestas will also employ up to 60 roles to be based on their offshore service operations vessel, the Edda Brint, which will use the port every 2-3 weeks to rotate crew, staff and replenish the offshore warehouse.
Both SWEL and Vestas are looking to employ these roles in the local Angus area.
For job opportunities with Seagreen, please visit their recruitment page.
Community Involvement & Stakeholders
Activity Pack
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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