103rd and final jacket lifted into place for Moray Offshire Windfarm
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THE 103rd and final jacket has been installed at sea for the Moray Offshore Windfarm (East) Ltd.
This milestone enables the next phase of the project construction to commence, Wind Turbine Generator Installation, in the New Year.
The jackets are the three-legged steel foundations on which Wind turbines and offshore substations are installed
The Geosea Smulders Moray East Consortium – a joint venture between DEME Offshore and Smulders - was awarded the contract to supply and install all 103 jackets and piles required for the Moray East project, (100 for turbines and 3 for offshore substation platforms).
The majority of the jackets (55) for the wind turbine foundations have been fabricated by Smulders using facilities across Europe, including Belgium, Poland, Spain and Portugal with fabrication and final assembly conducted at Smulders’ Wallsend facility in Newcastle.
All the completed jackets were shipped by sea to Global Energy’s facility at Nigg, from which they were prepared for installation on site in the Moray Firth by the Seajack installation vessel Scylla.
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Moray East Project Director Marcel Sunier said: “Today’s achievement is remarkable given the challenges of Covid-19, winter weather and knock on impacts to the global supply chain and travel. Despite that, the last jacket structures were assembled at Newcastle and barged to Nigg last week. "With the focus and dedication of all involved the team were able to install the 103rd and final jacket safely.
“There are many people involved in delivering this milestone. I would like to thank all of those who have made this possible including the ca.500 staff at Smulders yard in Newcastle and the team at Global Energy’s facility at Nigg.
"We now look forward to 2021, the Wind Turbine Pre-Assembly in the Cromarty Firth and their subsequent safe installation at sea and energisation of the entire infrastructure allowing the export of clean and affordable electricity, doing our part to contribute to a sustainable future."
