In a landmark move towards the UK’s clean energy future, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray has switched on full power at Ocean Winds’ new Moray West wind farm.
The Moray West wind farm, located 13 miles off the coast of Buckie, is one of Scotland’s largest offshore windfarms.
It will generate up to 882MW output – enough to power 1.3 million homes – half of Scotland’s households.
Upon full power, Ocean Winds will become the largest offshore wind operator in Scotland, running two windfarms off the North East coast and with a third in development.
Growing the economy with offshore wind
Clean energy represents the economic opportunity of the 21st century, with the Moray West project alone creating around 1,500 jobs during the construction phase.
The developer, Ocean Winds, has used more than 80 UK suppliers in the project to date, which has involved installing the biggest turbines yet in British waters, spanning up to 257m above sea level.
Ian Murray stated: “Investment like that being made by Ocean Winds is absolutely central to ensuring that Scotland and its workers benefit from the skilled jobs and economic growth that clean energy can bring.
“With Great British energy located in Aberdeen, and billions of pounds of investment on the table, Scotland is at the very heart of the UK Government’s drive to make the UK a clean energy superpower.”
The role of Moray West wind farm in the clean energy transition
The Moray West wind farm takes the UK Government a step closer to achieving the 43-50GW offshore wind targets set for 2030, as published in the Clean Power Action Plan- helping deliver on its mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower.
During his visit to Ocean Winds, Murray met staff who have transitioned into renewables after careers in the oil and gas industry and the UK’s armed forces.
“Offshore wind is the backbone of our plans for clean power by 2030, as the UK is blessed with thousands of miles of coastline,” explained Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
“Developments like Moray West take us a step closer to getting off the fossil fuel rollercoaster and help deliver on our Plan for Change, protecting households from volatile gas prices and creating good jobs.”
Bringing countries together to advance energy security
After switching on the Moray West wind farm, the Scottish Secretary also travelled to Aberdeen to visit Sarens PSG and ETZ Ltd.
Sarens PSG were involved in the construction of the Moray West wind farm, marshalling 62 giant ‘monopiles’ – the wind turbine foundations.
Meanwhile, Sarens PSG has opened a new £1.6m training facility for wind farm workers. The company opened the facility recently, saying that Great British Energy’s headquarters being located in Aberdeen made the city the ideal location for the facility.
Touring the Energy Transition Zone, Murray visited the Floating Wind Innovation Centre, the UK’s first dedicated facility of its kind for floating wind technology, run by ORE Catapult.
These visits are happening against the background of the UK Government co-hosting the International Energy Agency summit in London, a global event bringing together countries to discuss energy security.
