AN offshore wind farm that faced opposition from Donald Trump has generated its first power. Vattenfall’s European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) off the coast of Aberdeen successfully exported to the national grid on Sunday.
The power, from the first of the development’s 11 turbines to go live, was carried through 66 kilovolt (kV) subsea cabling, the first time that cabling of such capacity has been installed on a commercial offshore wind project in Scotland.
The generation of power was hailed as a significant milestone for the project, which faced delays including a legal challenge from Trump, who claimed the turbines would ruin the views from his golf course at Balmedie. The turbines at the site are the most powerful in the world, standing 191 metres tall, with each blade 80 metres long and a 164-metre rotor that has a circumference larger than that of the London Eye.
The development is expected to reach full power later in the summer.
Project director Adam Ezzamel said: “We have overcome major engineering and technical challenges to achieve first power on the cutting-edge EOWDC thanks to the collective expertise of Vattenfall and our contractors MHI Vestas, Boskalis and Murphy. Our priority now is to fully commission the wind farm safely throughout the summer.
“First power from EOWDC reinforces north-east Scotland’s status as Europe’s energy capital and will help establish the region as an international centre for offshore wind generation.”
Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said the first power was a “very significant milestone”. He said: “I congratulate the project team at Vattenfall for not only a successful installation but also their achievement in generating electricity from the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbines which, with each rotation at full power, will generate enough energy to power a home for 24 hours.
“Once the test and demonstration site is fully operational, not only will this help the offshore wind sector to further reduce its costs through lessons learned during operations, the output from EOWDC will itself add significantly to Scotland’s renewable electricity generating capacity.”
Jean Morrison, chair of Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, added: “The timescale between the first installation and first power is remarkable. The techniques and innovations developed at the EOWDC will be hugely significant for the industry and should help to reduce the future costs of offshore wind.”
Gina Hanrahan, acting head of policy at WWF Scotland said: “Renewables are a key component of our power system, cutting emission and creating jobs. But to harness their full potential the UK Government must urgently unlock the market for mature technologies like onshore wind and solar. Indeed only last week the Committee on Climate Change advised that the UK Government’s failure to take advantage of these low-cost, low-risk options is unfairly penalising consumers who could enjoy lower energy bills.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel