Seaway 7, the main Seagreen contractor, have contracted Van Oord to install scour protection around the 114 wind turbine foundations at the Seagreen offshore wind farm, according to the company's release. This wind farm is located 27 kilometres off the coast of Angus in Scotland.
The wind turbines for this 1.1 GW offshore wind farm will be installed on three-legged jacket foundations. After the installation of these jackets, scour protection is required to avoid the effects of erosion. This is achieved by high precision rock installation around the jackets.
For this specific project, which started at the end of October 2021, Van Oord is deploying high dynamic flexible fallpipe vessel Bravenes. This vessel has a unique method for subsea rock installation thanks to the automated fallpipe system that can be skidded over the side of the vessel. This results in highly accurate and efficient rock installation in close vicinity to the jacket foundations using a powerful Remote Operating Vehicle (ROV).
In addition, flexible fallpipe vessel Nordnes will be deployed to install scour protection on several cable crossings. All subsea activities will take place in water depths of up to 50 metres.
When completed, the Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm will be Scotland’s largest, and the world’s deepest, fixed bottom offshore wind farm. It will provide a significant contribution to Scotland’s net-zero ambition and enough clean, renewable energy to power 1.6 million homes.