Wednesday 25 July 2018

Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm starts generating power

Scotland's largest offshore wind farm has started generating electricity.

Following the successful installation of the first 7MW turbine at the Beatrice Wind Farm, the site is now exporting clean energy to the grid.

Once the site is completed in spring 2019, it will be made up of 84 Siemens Gamesa turbines and be capable of powering the equivalent of 450,000 homes with its 588MW of capacity.

Situated 13 kilometres off the Caithness coast, the £2.6 billion renewable facility is a joint venture between SSE, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Red Rock Power Limited.

Project Director John Hill said: "We often talk about key milestones along a project’s journey and Beatrice has had quite a few to date but to see the first turbine turning in the Moray Firth and to have reached first power safely, ahead of programme and on budget is a fantastic achievement for everyone connected to the project.

"The project has already brought several benefits to the local community, the UK supply chain and once completed, Beatrice will make a significant contribution to Scotland’s ambitious renewable energy targets."