Vattenfall has signed leases totalling 24 years with Aberdeen Harbour Board, becoming the first offshore wind operator to invest long term in the port’s facilities. The company is set to establish its construction team’s base within the Regent Centre by next month and also move into a warehouse unit at Commercial Quay.
The facilities will support the construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance (O&M), and eventual decommissioning phases of Vattenfall’s more than £300million European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) off the Aberdeen coast. Construction onshore of the 92.4MW, 11-turbine offshore wind scheme started last month with first power expected to generate in summer 2018. A team of up to 10 personnel, including skilled offshore wind technicians, will be based at the facilities during the lifetime of the project. The warehouse will undergo a substantial retrofit and the company anticipates moving into the new facilities within Q2 of 2017. Turbine supplier, MHI Vestas Offshore wind, will provide a full service agreement for at least the first five years of operations, working together with Vattenfall from the O&M base at Aberdeen Harbour.