Viking Wind Farm, Shetland

Construction began at the 103-turbine Viking Wind farm in August 2020 with road works and other site preparation works being carried out. Our operatives then arrived in June 2021 and began the first phase of steel fixing with the first base being poured in August that year.

The Murform team were appointed by client RJ McLeod to construct the reinforced concrete turbine bases for the project. This 443MW turbine site is one of the largest both companies have been involved in, to date, with 103 bases in total to complete. The bases are over double the size of previous turbines, with 108 tonnes of rebar and 700m³ of concrete each – that’s 11,124t of rebar, 430 truckloads, and 72,100m³ of concrete, 9,615 trucks in total for the project!

The power generated by the Viking Energy wind farm will be fed into the electricity grid through a 600MW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link, which will connect Shetland to the UK mainland via a 260km-long subsea cable.

The project posed a particular challenge when contending with the unpredictable Shetland weather, we also had to navigate the complexities of material procurement and resources and aimed to use local suppliers and resources as much as possible to ensure full community engagement.

It is hoped that Viking will become one of the most productive onshore wind farms in the UK once fully operational, and meet the energy needs of 475,000 homes and save half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.