Ocean Winds’ Moray West offshore wind farm has been officially switched on to full capacity by Scottish Secretary Ian Murray.
The 882MW wind farm, located 13 miles off the coast of Buckie, Scotland, generated its first power in July of last year. However, yesterday’s ceremony, which was also attended by secretary of state for energy Ed Miliband, marked the official first generation at full capacity of the project. The final turbine was installed at the plant in November 2024.
Ocean Winds, which is a joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE, has set up a high-profile corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) with online multinational retail giant Amazon. Amazon will purchase a share of up to 473MW from the Moray West offshore wind farm as part of its mission to use 100% renewable energy by 2025.
The development was awarded a contract in the Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 4 (AR4). The project reached full-scale operations ahead of the developer’s initial schedule; when submitting its application for AR4, Ocean Winds predicted that the project would be fully operational by 2026/2027.
The Moray West development is made up of 60 14.7MW wind turbines. Siemens Gamesa, the wind-focused arm of Siemens Energy, managed the pre-assembly activity, with the blades for the turbines manufactured at the firm’s facility in Hull. According to the UK government, the project made use of over 80 UK suppliers and deployed the biggest turbines in Europe, spanning 257m above sea level. Now that the site is fully operational, Ocean Winds is the largest offshore wind operator in Scotland, with a 6GW portfolio of UK offshore wind.
Ian Murray said full power at the Moray West offshore wind farm was “a huge moment”, adding: “Investment like that being made by Ocean Winds is absolutely central to ensuring that Scotland and its workers benefit from the skilled jobs and economic growth that clean energy can bring.”
Energy secretary Ed Miliband said that offshore wind is “the backbone” of the UK’s clean power plans, adding: “Developments like Moray West take us a step closer to getting off the fossil fuel rollercoaster and help deliver on our Plan for Change, protecting households from volatile gas prices and creating good jobs.”
