SUMMARY

More than 2mn CO2 mt/yr of emissions from fossil fuels will be displaced from the Scottish energy mix.

By Callum Cyrus

TotalEnergies said August 23 it had launched Scotland's largest offshore wind power generation project, as the first phase of the 1,075-MW Seagreen wind farm off the coast of Angus was brought online.

The operating consortium has invested $4.3bn in the project, which includes the world's "deepest fixed bottom wind farm," situated in water depths of around 59 m.

TotalEnergies only came on board in June 2020 when it signed an agreement worth up to £70mn to purchase a 51% equity stake from SSE Renewables. SSE Renewables still has a 49% equity stake in the development.

Forecast to meet the energy needs of some 1.6mn Scottish/UK households, Seagreen currently comprises 114 offshore wind turbines dispatching power into the national grid via a Scottish entry point in East Lothian.

The wind farm should displace more than 2mn CO2 metric tons/yr of fossil fuel-derived power, propelling Scotland closer to its goal of achieving net-zero by 2045, five years earlier than the UK-wide target.

Seagreen's second phase will involve the construction of a further 36 offshore wind turbines, bringing the project to full capacity in the second quarter of next year.

Vincent Stoquart, senior vice president of renewables at TotalEnergies, said: "We are delighted to announce the start of power generation from Seagreen, our first offshore wind steps in the UK North Sea.

This marks a new step in the development of TotalEnergies’ offshore activities capacity. This milestone will contribute directly to our objective of reaching 35 GW of renewable electricity capacity worldwide by 2025.”