Final wind turbine components are now being transported to the site of the 443MW Viking wind farm in the Shetland Islands, its developer SSE Renewables has announced.

The transportation by Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas is a major milestone in the project’s development and construction.

Vestas ensures the safety of the components, which are being sent from its facilities to Lerwick and then on their final journey to the Viking site.

Of the 103 Vestas V117 turbines, 94 have been fully installed so far.

In April 2023, the first turbines were installed at the project. Early in July, the wind farm reached the halfway mark with the installation of the 52nd turbine.

The entire process will be complete by the autumn.

Operations at the wind farm are anticipated to begin in 2024. The project will generate enough clean energy to power half a million Scottish homes, supporting Scotland’s net-zero goals.

SSE Renewables onshore renewables development and construction director Heather Donald stated: “It is great that we have reached this milestone in the project with convoys completing. It takes a lot of planning and organisation to get to this point. 

“It has been a huge team effort from Police Scotland, Vestas and McFadyen’s Transport, a specialist haulage company based in Scotland, to complete this phase of the project with minimal impact on motorists.

“We would like to thank the local community for their patience and support over the past few months whilst we transported turbine components from Lerwick Port to mainland Shetland.”

The final investment decision on the Viking wind farm was taken in June 2020, with SSE Renewables investing £580m ($736.42m).