SSE Director of Generation Development, Paul Cooley, on 15 years of Offshore Wind.



Back in 2003 we first dipped our toes into the offshore wind industry with the co-development of the relatively small Arklow Bank Phase 1 project in Ireland. Fast forward fifteen years and SSE currently has the largest consented offshore wind pipeline, some 3.3GW, of any UK company.

During that time SSE has proven its ability to deliver industry leading offshore wind projects including the development, construction and operation of the 504MW Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind farm (SSE 50%) and, come spring 2019, the SSE-led 588MW Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm (SSE 40%) currently under construction in the Moray Firth.

Our projects have helped to bring long-term jobs and economic development to diverse parts of the UK. At Greater Gabbard around 95% of the employees at the operations and maintenance base in Lowestoft are from the local area and supply chain and economic spend sits around 50% in the region.


For Beatrice, 45% of the project's £2.6bn capex investment is expected to be within the UK. Contracts were placed with companies and businesses across the supply chain including CS Wind's Machrahanish factory for turbine towers, Global Energy Group's Nigg Energy Park for turbine assembly, JDR Cables based in Hartlepool for 180km of array cables to connect the turbines, Siemen's Gamesa in Hull for turbine manufacturing and Wick-based GMR Henderson for the restoration and development of the operations and maintenance base.

Looking forward, Seagreen Phase 1 (up to 1.5GW, SSE 100%) and Dogger Bank (up to 3.6GW, SSE 50%) are preparing for the next Contracts for Difference auction expected in May 2019. Arklow Bank Wind Park (minimum 520MW, SSE 100%) is one of the leading projects in the emerging offshore wind industry in Ireland. SSE's offshore wind legacy, and the benefits it can bring, looks set to continue into the future.

As well as leading the Generation Development team at SSE I also sit on the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC), which is fully committed to working with Government and other stakeholders to secure a sector deal for the industry aiming to deliver at least a third of the UK's electricity needs from offshore wind by 2030.

This ambitious sector deal would bring employment, enhance the UK's offshore wind products and services and increase the amount of content of UK offshore wind farms provided by UK companies.

As one of the key technologies needed to help the UK transition to a low carbon economy, SSE's 3.3GW pipeline of consented offshore wind projects shows our commitment to playing a key role in this transition.

SSE announced in November 2018 that it is bringing together the development, operation and ownership of its renewable energy assets in the UK and Ireland under a single entity to be known as SSE Renewables. For more information on SSE's offshore wind interests read our '15 years in offshore wind brochure' here.