Moray East Wind Farm
| Moray East Offshore Wind Farm | |
|---|---|
| Country |
|
| Location | Moray Firth, North Sea |
| Coordinates | 58°10′01″N 2°41′55″W / 58.16708°N 2.69852°W |
| Commission date | 2022 |
| Owners |
|
| Wind farm | |
| Type | |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 100 × 9.5 MW |
| Make and model | MHI Vestas V164-9.5MW (100) |
| Nameplate capacity |
|
| External links | |
| Website | www |
Moray East Wind Farm is an offshore wind farm located in the outer Moray Firth off the coast of Scotland. It is located adjacent to the Moray West Wind Farm, both of which are just south of the Beatrice Wind Farm. The wind farm is around 50 km (30 mi) north of the Moray coast, and 22 km (14 mi) from the coast of Caithness.
The wind farm was consented in 2014 and construction began in 2019, The first power was exported in June 2021 and the farm reached full power output in April 2022.
Technology
The wind farm includes 100 Vestas V164-9.5 MW turbines for a total generating capacity of 950 MW.[1] These have a 164 m (538 ft) diameter rotor, with a hub height of 105 m (344 ft) and a tip height of 187 m (614 ft).[2]
The wind farm includes three offshore substations and uses three 220 kV AC export cables to transmit generated power to the national grid, connected via a new substation at New Deer. The cable landfall location is at Inverboyndie bay, west of Banff, Aberdeenshire, and the cables were pulled through ducts which extend 1 km (0.6 mi) offshore to minimise environmental impacts.[1][3] The export cables are 86 km (53 mi) long, with 52 km (32 mi) offshore and 34 km (21 mi) onshore.[2] The array cables for the wind farm are 66 kV.[2]
The operations and maintenance (O&M) base for the wind farm is located in Fraserburgh Harbour. This includes an O&M building—with control room, offices, and workshops—plus berthing facilities and storage areas.[2][4]
History
The wind farm received consent in 2014,[5] and received support under the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme at £57.50/MWh (2012 prices) in 2017.[6]
In 2019, Construction of the wind farm commenced, with DEME Offshore installing pin-piles for the tripod jacket foundations using their jack-up vessel Apollo.[1]
The first turbine was installed in January 2021 by the Fred. Olsen jack-up vessel Bold Tern. When the 64th turbine was installed in July, the project became Scotland's largest offshore wind farm. The final turbine was installed in September 2021.[7]
The wind farm began exporting power in June 2021.[8]
In September 2021, the operations base in Fraserburgh was officially opened by Michael Matheson, at the time the Scottish Government Cabinet secretary for net zero and energy.[4]
Full power output was achieved in April 2022,[9] and was commissioned. However, as market prices had increased above the CfD price due to the 2021 United Kingdom natural gas supplier crisis, the operator deferred the CfD start.[6]
Constraint payment investigation
In April 2025, Ofgem launched an inquiry looking at whether Ocean Winds had claimed excessive prices to reduce output at times of network constraints. The Renewable Energy Foundation had previously alleged widespread overcharging by operators of wind farms, and stated the Moray East wind farm was paid £100m in the two-year period ending in September 2023.[10]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Construction works begin at Moray East". 4c Offshore. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Moray Offshore Wind Farm East (Moray East), Scotland". Power Technology. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
- ^ Durakovic, Adnan (11 August 2020). "First Moray East Export Cable Makes Landfall". Offshore Wind. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ a b Penman, Hamish (21 October 2021). "Cabinet secretary cuts ribbon on Moray East O&M base". Energy Voice. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ McPhee, David (7 December 2018). "Moray East Windfarm announces £2.6bn project investment amid clutch of deals - News for the Energy Sector". Energy Voice. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ a b Lempriere, Molly (5 May 2022). "BEIS calls on companies to act 'fairly' when triggering CfD support amid high power prices". Current+. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022.
- ^ Buljan, Adrijana (15 September 2021). "All Moray East Wind Turbines Installed". Offshore Wind. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ Durakovic, Adnan (7 June 2021). "Moray East Offshore Wind Farm Starts Delivering". Offshore Wind. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ "Moray East Offshore Wind Farm Achieves Full Output". Offshore Engineer Magazine. 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022.
- ^ Leake, Jonathan (17 April 2025). "Wind farm 'charged households £100m to switch off turbines'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 26 April 2025.