Work to install 19km of underground cabling which will connect the £3bn Seagreen Wind Farm to the national grid is underway in Angus.
It marks a major milestone in the construction of the 1,075MW 114-turbine development 27km off the coast of the county, which when operational, will power up to 1.3m homes throughout the country.
Once finished, the cabling will reach from where the project makes landfall in Carnoustie to a new dedicated substation currently under construction in Tealing.
The vital cable installation work is being delivered by global cable manufacturer Nexans and is scheduled to be completed by summer next year.
When complete, Seagreen – a joint venture between SSE Renewables and Total – will be Scotland’s single largest source of renewable energy, providing a significant contribution to Scotland’s net-zero ambition.
Onshore Electrical Infrastructure Project Manager, Steven Reid from SSE Renewables is responsible for the cable installation project. He said: “It’s great that this work is underway and to see the Seagreen Wind Farm becoming a reality. Everyone on the project including our colleagues at Nexans and our other sub-contractors have worked hard to get to this stage.
“We’re extremely grateful to all who live along the route for their co-operation and understanding and look forward to delivering the 19km of cabling safely and with the least amount of disruption possible.”
Nexans Project Manager, Scott McCreadie said: “We’re very proud to see the months of good work during the planning and pre-construction phases of the Seagreen project finally coming into fruition.
“We are looking forward to the construction phase of the works and remain committed to delivering the project as safely and efficiently as possible, whilst maintaining minimum disruption to surrounding areas.”
Leader of Angus Council, Councillor David Fairweather visited one of the locations along the route of the cable installation. He said: “This stage in the project marks a big step towards the delivery of the Seagreen Wind Farm which is important to the Angus economy both in terms of jobs but also because of the benefits that the projects will bring to local communities.
“I’m very grateful to the people of Angus for their patience and co-operation during the cabling work and I am confident that safety is the top priority for both the Seagreen project team and the team at Nexans.
“I’ll be following the progress of the Seagreen Wind Farm project closely and look forward to seeing the benefits which have been created across Angus coming to fruition.”
Pictured from left to right - Steven Reid from SSE Renewables, Scott McCreadie from Nexans, Councillor David Fairweather – Leader of Angus Council, Maurice Dee, one of the workers from the cable installation team from Seagreen Project subcontractor Roadbridge
Seagreen Wind Farm Project is supporting a £1.8M community benefit fund which will be divided between six Community Councils in Angus. £30,000 of this fund was recently released early to support projects in each of the areas with their immediate response and recovery from the effects of Covid-19.
The project is also supporting an education programme which will give over 3,000 children in Dundee and Angus the opportunity to learn about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The programme is the first part of a £400,000 STEM programme focused on supporting STEM based skills development in Dundee and Angus.
If you are a member of the public and have a question about the cable installation works, please contact our Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Pauline Allison at pauline.allison@sse.com or 07880 180 662.
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