Moray East Installation Of Last Turbine Number 100

16th September 2021

Scotland's largest windfarm, Moray East, today announced that it had installed the last of its 100 Vestas V164-9.5 MW turbines at sea. The windfarm began generating when its first few turbines came online in June and has been gradually increasing output as more turbines are firstly installed, then commissioned.

See Video at the foot of this page.

The commissioning work which will enable the project to achieve full output of 950MW is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

Project Director Enrique Alvarez said:"In the face of unprecedented global conditions we have safely completed the installation of 100 turbines within the challenging timescale of a single season, and I would like to thank and congratulate all those involved in achieving this milestone safely.

"Just a decade ago, commercial-scale offshore wind generation in water depths of 50m and more was a vision. We have not only turned that into a reality, but are generating power at less than half the cost of earlier windfarms in shallow water, close to shore.

"Now we turn to the task of commissioning the turbines and bringing the windfarm up to its full generating capacity - ultimately enough to meet ca. 40 per cent of Scotland's domestic electricity needs"

Vestas Project Director Allan Birk Wisby added:"Vestas is proud to have completed delivery and installation of the 100 V164-9.5 MW turbines to the Moray East project, which is a significant step in the right direction of the decarbonisation of Scotland's energy mix. Amidst the challenges of Covid-19, the Vestas and Moray East teams have collaborated tremendously well, installing some of the most powerful turbines in the world safely and on schedule. This has been an excellent achievement by all the project partners and all companies involved in installation."

Moray East Project Statistics

- Capacity: 950MW

- Location: UK, Moray Firth, closest point to shore, 22km from shore.

- Turbines: 100 V164 - 9.5MW

- Power for average requirements of ca. 950, 000 UK homes

- Moray East will generate sufficient electricity to save 1.4 million tonnes CO₂ equivalent annually (assuming displacement of gas generation)

- Power will be generated at £57.50/MWhr, the lowest cost of any new renewable generation and 2/3 less than offshore windfarms in operation around the UK today (typically upward of £140/MWhr)



Moray East Project Ownership & Finance:

The 950MW wind farm is being developed by Moray Offshore Windfarm East Ltd (MOWEL), which is a joint venture company owned by Ocean Winds (56.6%) Diamond Green Limited (33.4%) and CTG (10%).

The project financing agreements were signed on 28th November 2018 with a syndicate of commercial banks as well as EKF, Denmark's Export Credit Agency ("EKF") and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (“JBIC"). The financing is composed of both project finance, which includes a senior debt facility of £2.1 billion, along with other debt facilities of £0.5 billion, and an equity bridge loan facility to cover part of the equity needs. Financial close occurred on 6th of December 2018.

In September 2017, MOWEL was awarded a 15-year Contract for Difference (CfD) by the UK's Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (“BEIS") for the delivery of 950MW of offshore wind generation at £57.5/MWh (2012 tariff-based). The wind farm is expected to be operational by 2022.



Moray East Project Timeline:

2010 - project development commenced when development rights were won in the UK’s 3rd round of offshore wind licencing. The Moray Firth Zone (Zone 1) was split into two, Moray East and Moray West. For technical reasons, Moray East was developed first

2014 - planning consent was awarded by the Scottish Government (offshore works) and Aberdeenshire Council (onshore works)

2017 - A 950MW Contract for Difference (CfD) was won in the UK Government’s 2nd competitive CfD auction. The CfD provides a contract for electricity for 15 years at £57.50/MWhr

2018 – Project announced signing of finance agreements and achieves financial close

2020 – 2022 – Commissioning commenced in 2021, full operation expected by 2022

Moray East Key Facts
Consent for construction of up to 1,116MW granted in 2016
CfD for 950MW awarded in 2017
Connection to National Grid at a new substation to be constructed at New Deer in Aberdeenshire via underground cable (planning permission granted by Aberdeenshire Council in 2014)
Total underground export cable corridor route 86km (52km offshore and 34km onshore)
Total wind farm Area – 295km2
Maximum turbine blade-tip height – 204m (669 feet)
Minimum distance from shore – 22km (13.5 miles).