World’s Deepest Fixed-Bottom Wind Farm Fully Operational
TotalEnergies and its partner SSE Renewables said Tuesday that their Seagreen offshore wind farm, Scotland’s largest and the world’s deepest fixed-bottom wind farm, is now fully operational and running at its design capacity of 1,075 MW.
Seagreen is a joint venture between TotalEnergies (51%) and SSE Renewables (49%). It is located in the North Sea, some 27 km off the coast of Angus. It is TotalEnergies’ biggest operational offshore wind farm worldwide and the world’s deepest fixed-bottom wind farm, with its foundation reaching nearly 60 meters below sea level.
The project, which began construction in June 2020, has been completed in around 3 years for a global investment of around $4 billion, globally in line with the expected capex, TotalEnergies said.
The development and construction were led, with the support of TotalEnergies, by SSE which will now operate the offshore wind farm for its expected 25-year lifetime.
The 1,075 MW offshore wind farm has the capacity to generate around 5 terawatt hours (TWh), or enough electricity to power almost 1.6 million homes annually, equivalent to two-thirds of all Scottish homes. Seagreen will also prevent the emission of over 2 million tons of CO2 from fossil fuel electricity generation every year.
TotalEnergies said it would will commercialize, through Seagreen, its share of production through a mix of a long-term contract at guaranteed price, including a 15-year CfD (Contract for Difference) awarded by the UK Government, and a 15-year private CfD with the SSE Group, and short-term sales on the wholesale market.
Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies:“I am very pleased to see Seagreen generating at full power, making it TotalEnergies’ biggest offshore wind farm worldwide. This 1 GW project is a new step in delivering our strategy of building a world-class, cost-competitive portfolio of renewable energy to deliver clean, reliable and affordable power to our customers. It will positively contribute to achieving our Integrated Power 12% profitability target and our objective of reaching more than 100 TWh of power generation by 2030.”