SSE Enterprise Telecoms to intall WAN at Seagreen offshore

SSE Enterprise Telecoms will provide the communications infrastructure for Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm on its completion within the next two years. 

Seagreen offshore windfarm will be capable of generating 1075MW from its 114 North Sea turbines – enough to power 40 percent of all Scottish homes. A joint venture partnership between SSE Renewables and Total is investing £3bn into the project, with onshore construction already underway and offshore construction due to get underway later this year.  

SSE Enterprise Telecoms will be responsible for the installation of a comprehensive Wide Area Network (WAN) between the substation at Tealing, Dundee, and operations centre in Montrose. 

The connection will provide offshore wind farm engineers based at Montrose with the visibility of supervisory control and data acquisition and technical equipment at Tealing needed to manage the distribution of power to the substation. This will maximise the operational efficiency of Seagreen and help it remain compliant with regulatory and health and safety directives.  

SSE Enterprise Telecoms will facilitate the flow of data between the offshore wind farm’s planned substation and onshore operations centre, to allow for crucial data analysis. By enabling the transfer of data between on and off-shore sites, the UK telco will be providing access to important insights into power, temperature and energy trends.  

Paul Clark, SSE Relationship Director at SSE Enterprise Telecoms, said having reliable connectivity was essential to help support the smooth running of such a large-scale windfarm.

"Telecoms infrastructure companies like ours play a vital role in keeping businesses connected and their operations functioning properly. Given the complexity of this project, our vast experience in developing critical infrastructure projects will be essential. We’re also able to bring our expertise gained from other renewables projects to bear, as well as our access to cutting edge technologies. 

"We have already delivered logistical support on 19 wind farms within SSE Group’s portfolio, so we look forward to supporting efforts to get Seagreen up and running. We are also proud to support the overall Seagreen offshore wind farm project which will play a huge role in helping the UK meet its Net Zero targets as well as provide an estimated £1bn boost to the nation’s economy.”  

Mick McCaffery, Seagreen Systems Project Manager, added the experience of SSE Enterprise Telecoms in servicing complex offshore renewables sites made it the best fit for Seagreen. "The UK needs to be generating 40GW of offshore wind power by 2030 to contribute toward Net Zero targets, so projects with the scale and ambition of Seagreen will be vital components of that low carbon vision," he said.