THE project to deliver what will be Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm has reached a new milestone with the completion of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) works.
SSE Renewables said that the work package was a ‘key’ part of the project and now provides the ability to instal the electrical cables required to transmit electricity generated from the wind farm.
HDD is a technique that is used for the installation of ducting and avoids the need for open trenching/excavation. It was used to insert ducting at eight locations along the onshore cabling route between landfall at the coast of Carnoustie and the project’s new substation currently under construction at Tealing airfield.
SeaGreen’s onshore project manager, Steven Reid, said, “We’re very pleased with the delivery of the HDD works by the project team and our contractors, where the works have been completed safely and with a minimum amount of disturbance.
“The non-intrusive nature of horizontal directional drilling means that it has a minimal environmental impact. It reduces noise, vibration, waste and earthworks in comparison to the traditional method of open trenching, where plant machinery is used for the bulk removal and reinstatement of earthworks. In addition, the installation process has enabled key local and national transportation routes to remain open throughout and resulted in no disruption to route users whilst the works took place below ground.
“We would like to place our thanks to the people of Angus for their continued patience whilst these works were undertaken and also to the various Stakeholders that supported during the design and construction phases. The project team will now continue to work with our Principal Contractor Nexans to safely deliver the final construction works required for the installation of the electrical infrastructure.”
Further works in the project sees electrical cabling be pulled through 19.5 kilometres of underground ducts in Angus, which will connect the £3 billion windfarm to the Scottish national grid.
