Machrihanish Offshore Windfarm

[abbey craig]

I spoke to a Mr Ross Easton corporate affairs manager(Southern and scottish energy) for the Greater Gabbard offshore wind turbine site of Lowestoft,and he told me when the construction is complete off the 130 wind turbines offshore,they will employ around 100 personell,to maintain the site.Consisting of Managers,technicians,health and safety personnel,and boat tender crews etc etc.

[Mary G]

they will employ around 100 personell,to maintain the site.Consisting of Managers,technicians,health and safety personnel,and boat tender crews etc etc.

Very interesting, abbey craig. Did he say where he expected these jobs to be based?

[abbey craig]

He said Mary "Were looking to employ around 100 people at our base in Lowestoft"

[WC1]

There is not the on-shore infrastructure here to support that kind of operation. It is far more likely that the proposed windfarms for Machrihanish and Islay, and possibly Tiree, will mostly be serviced from Belfast or elsewhere in Northern Ireland. I would also distrust their future employment predictions. "Looking to" isn't the same as "going to".

[abbey craig]

There will be no chance these wind turbine sites will be seviced from Northern Ireland.The down time on these turbines cost money to be seviced from N Ireland would never work,it would take a maintenance crew over a day to get to the west coast of Scotland.

I worked on the burbo bank offshore project for Siemans,and they now have a full maintenance crew covering the site,i dont know the exact numbers,but i would reckon around 30 personel covering the 30 turbines.The same set up in North Wales they have there own maintenance crew,and personel.

[WC1]

I sincerely hope there's no chance these turbines will be built at all. As for maintenance crews taking a day to get to the west coast of Scotland, the ferry used to get to Ireland in about three hours.

[abbey craig]

aye,but there aint going to be a ferry,if the SNP and labour coudnt get it up and running,the tories certainly wont

[Kevin]

There will be no chance these wind turbine sites will be seviced from Northern Ireland.The down time on these turbines cost money to be seviced from N Ireland would never work,it would take a maintenance over a day to get to the west coast of Scotland.

I worked on the burbo bank offshore project for Siemans,and they now have a full maintenance crew covering the site,i dont know the exact numbers,but i would reckon around 30 personel covering the 30 turbines.The same set up in North Wales they have there own maintenance crew,and personel.

I disagree.

There are no port facilities, or indeed any possible berthing area, on the West coast of Kintyre to base a large permanent maintenance or construction site for easy access to Machrihanish and Islay proposed wind farms.

The closest possible on Kintyre would be Campbeltown but why base there when you would require the extra time and fuel to travel around the known treacherous tidal waters off the Mull every time?

It would take longer, be riskier and be costlier than a direct transfer route from Northern Ireland (or Donegal in Ireland) from where they could consolidate a cheaper single service main site which would be able to service and support the proposed Machrihanish, Islay and even Tiree offshore windfarm sites .



One major support/service site means you require a lower number of skilled staff to cover a greater number of turbines, you lower overheads by consolidating your resources, you have a lower cost of support/maintenance and thus larger profits for the operator.

The most that maybe could be hoped for would be a small satellite service area nearby to each site which includes helicopter access for emergency transfer of personnel to/from the main service/support site in Northern Ireland or Ireland.

The support/maintenance teams will be multinational and a necessity will be easy and direct access to an international airport (Belfast). This will be for external vendor support, critical/standard parts delivery, personnel changes to fly in/out and most importantly being able to recruit and reduce the turnover of skilled staff for the required positions. Once again Kintyre and Islay are both at a major disadvantage in this respect as both are viewed as remote when trying to attract the required calibre of personnel, not to mention the accessibility of international transport and international logistic services. These types of criteria are often overlooked in these types of debates and are a key factor in deciding the efficiencies of where to base a site.

The base will undoubtedly be in Northern Ireland, I also hear Ballycastle also has a nice new port which is not being used.......

The preparation work, fit out, pre-commissioning and construction will also be based from Northern Ireland, most probably Belfast due to the large dry docks and labour force with necessary skills obtained from the shipyards.

Kintyre could perhaps have none of economic the benefits as there is no guarantee Skycon will be the supplier of the towers as they might not be able to:

1: Supply the specific design or specification of product required, or
2: Win the contract on cost or production/delivery KPI's, or
3: Allocate production capacity at the time required for such an order should they already be contracted within a binding supplier agreement for delivering towers elsewhere, or

most Importantly,
4: Be selected as the tower manufacturer if there already exists a close/proven working relationship, track record or preferred supplier agreement with another tower manufacturer regardless if Skycon provide a cheaper or better quality bid!

The rival supplier may already be delivering towers for current offshore wind farms and the operator would already have have a proven and fully qualified configuration of operator, tower, commissioning team, construction team, blade manufacturer, nacelle provider etc etc.

On the other hand the people of Kintyre will have all the aesthetic difficulties of having a large 'effectively inshore' windfarm within the waters of Machrihanish Bay while attempting at the same time to try and build a sustainable tourism industry.

To rub salt in the wounds they will also have a grandstand view of the "promised jobs and economic benefits" of the maintenance, support and construction teams being ferried back and forward between Northern Ireland and the turbines.



Just to be clear I welcome 'true' offshore developments and only if they are placed correctly and not chosen solely on where is it cheaper to construct.

[John S]

However if the Kintyre site was moved to the east side, we would increase the opportunities for Kintyre to benefit (campbeltown then being much closer by sea) and remove the visual impact from Machrihanish. Moving it to the south east of kintyre would not impact on as many people or as greatly as the site would have to be further off shore to maximise the wind.

[Mary G]

It would take longer, be riskier and be costlier than a direct transfer route from Northern Ireland (or Donegal in Ireland) from where they could consolidate a cheaper single service main site which would be able to service and support the proposed Machrihanish, Islay and even Tiree offshore windfarm sites ...

The most that maybe could be hoped for would be a small satellite service area nearby to each site which includes helicopter access for emergency transfer of personnel to/from the main service/support site in Northern Ireland or Ireland.

The support/maintenance teams will be multinational and a necessity will be easy and direct access to an international airport ...

The base will undoubtedly be in Northern Ireland...

Interesting stuff, Kevin. You talk very authoritatively and knowledgeably. I take it your sources are solid. If so, this is exactly the sort of information that the local community needs to be able to assess the merits of the respective arguments.

How can people verify your evidence, Kevin?

By the way - very helpful map

Also, abbey craig, you have a lot of valuable first-hand experience.

There will be no chance these wind turbine sites will be seviced from Northern Ireland.The down time on these turbines cost money to be seviced from N Ireland would never work,it would take a maintenance crew over a day to get to the west coast of Scotland.

I worked on the burbo bank offshore project for Siemans,and they now have a full maintenance crew covering the site,i dont know the exact numbers,but i would reckon around 30 personel covering the 30 turbines.The same set up in North Wales they have there own maintenance crew,and personel.

I would be interested to hear what you make of Kevin's analysis. Not many international airports in North Wales - even Manchester is around four hours drive away...

Ironic that there are people like you in the town with technical skills and expertise in this sort of work, and yet you need to travel so far to ply your trade.

[A15 NMA]

It would take longer, be riskier and be costlier than a direct transfer route from Northern Ireland (or Donegal in Ireland) from where they could consolidate a cheaper single service main site which would be able to service and support the proposed Machrihanish, Islay and even Tiree offshore windfarm sites ...

The most that maybe could be hoped for would be a small satellite service area nearby to each site which includes helicopter access for emergency transfer of personnel to/from the main service/support site in Northern Ireland or Ireland.

The support/maintenance teams will be multinational and a necessity will be easy and direct access to an international airport ...

The base will undoubtedly be in Northern Ireland...

Interesting stuff, Kevin. You talk very authoritatively and knowledgeably. I take it your sources are solid. If so, this is exactly the sort of information that the local community needs to be able to assess the merits of the respective arguments.

How can people verify your evidence, Kevin?

By the way - very helpful map

Also, abbey craig, you have a lot of valuable first-hand experience.

There will be no chance these wind turbine sites will be seviced from Northern Ireland.The down time on these turbines cost money to be seviced from N Ireland would never work,it would take a maintenance crew over a day to get to the west coast of Scotland.

I worked on the burbo bank offshore project for Siemans,and they now have a full maintenance crew covering the site,i dont know the exact numbers,but i would reckon around 30 personel covering the 30 turbines.The same set up in North Wales they have there own maintenance crew,and personel.

I would be interested to hear what you make of Kevin's analysis. Not many international airports in North Wales - even Manchester is around four hours drive away...

Ironic that there are people like you in the town with technical skills and expertise in this sort of work, and yet you need to travel so far to ply your trade.

At this stage this information can surely only be speculative or based on personal opinion?

I very much doubt that the O&M facility will be under one roof in a sole location due to the fact that there is another developer involved and also the turbine suppliers for these proposed sites will most probably be different. The SSE representatives also indicated that if the development goes ahead the O&M base would be in Campbeltown.

Do not understand why Donegal would even be an option for the O&M facility?

[Kevin]

^^^^^
Yes, of course I should have mentioned that my post was just my own opinion.

[Bertie]

At this stage this information can surely only be speculative or based on personal opinion?

Interesting you should say that A15 NMA. That could equally be said of your comments. The only definitive fact is that, if this project goes ahead, the local scenery and landscape will be an eyesore for future generations.

[Sheik Yir Erse]

The only definitive fact is that, if this project goes ahead, the local scenery and landscape will be an eyesore for future generations.

Not sure something as subjective as an individual's definition of "eyesore" can be considered as a "definitive fact".

I would have thought the only definitive facts are - if this goes ahead as planned, there will be turbines in the sea off the coast of Kintyre, some people will be happy, and some will be sad.

[bill]

The only definitive fact is that, if this project goes ahead, the local scenery and landscape will be an eyesore for future generations.

No Bertie you are wrong,because that also is only your personal opinion.Others obviously share that opinion,but many more do not,and the vast majority are not bothered one way or the other.
I always find it interesting that those against always have as part of their arguement that it "will be an eyesore for future generations".As we all know the children are the future,so what do they think of it?To answer that I can only go on the children I know,and they are taught at school that our planet needs to change to survive.Part of that change is a massive move towards renewable energy sources,which includes wind farms.
When it comes to the crunch,if we do nothing now,there will be no views for future generations because there will be no planet.
Once again this is only my personal view,to which others will agree or disagree.