Cromarty Firth Port Wins Monopile Marshalling Deal for Moray West Offshore Wind Farm
Developers of the Moray West offshore wind farm in the UK have selected Invergordon port in the Cromarty Firth, Scotland, as the location for marshalling all 62 monopiles prior to installation as part of the Moray West offshore wind farm.
The wind farm is being developed by Ocean Winds, a 50-50 joint venture owned by EDP Renewables and ENGIE.
"Moray West has signed a multi-million pound contract with Port of Cromarty Firth (POCF) to use the recently expanded facilities at Invergordon for this scope," Ocean Winds said.
According to the company, the monopiles will be some of the largest used in the sector to date with weights up to just under 2,000 tonnes.
Offloading the monopiles from delivery vessels will be done using self-propelled modular transporters. The monopiles will start to arrive in Invergordon in the second quarter of 2023, and installation should be completed about a year later.
The agreement to host Moray West will contribute to the pipeline of offshore wind projects using POCF facilities in the Cromarty Firth. With two new berths and a 372-meter quayside, POCF’s Quay West development has one of the largest port laydown facilities of its kind in the UK, at more than 90,000 square meters. The £50 million facility was officially opened by HRH Princess Anne in the summer of 2021.
The Moray West monopiles will be installed by DEME Offshore's flagship vessel, Orion. DEME's jack-up vessel Apollo will install the transition pieces.
Once fully operational, the Moray West wind farm will be able to power around 640,000 households in Scotland.
