WIND FARM UPDATE

Race Bank

DONG Energy signed a contract with Belgian contractor Jan de Nul during the EWA OFFSHORE event in March for the installation of the export cables for the 580MW Race Bank offshore wind farm. The full scope includes around 148km of cables to interconnect the 2 offshore substations and to connect each of them to the onshore substation that will be built adjacent to the existing Walpole substation. Jan de Nul will be using their cable layer Isaac Newton.

The onshore substation will be built by J. Murphy & Sons Limited. The company was awarded a £21.8m contract from DONG Energy on 17 March. The substation is planned to be completed in 2016.

Race Bank will be located almost 17 miles off Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk Coast. It is expected to become fully operational by 2018, generating enough power to supply 400.000 with green energy annually.

Triton knoll

RWE Innogy has partnered up with Norwegian power firm Statkraft to jointly develop and built the 900MW Triton Knoll offshore wind farm for which RWE received development consent from the UK Government back in July 2013.

Triton Knoll is located off the east coast of the UK. Once in operation the wind farm could generate enough power to supply around 800.000 households. The project is expected to involve an investment of £3 to £4bn. Financial closure is expected in 2017 after which onshore construction could start.

The companies will both work together on the development and construction whereby Statkraft can already draw from its experience in building two other wind farms in this area; Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind farm.

Walney Extension

DONG Energy has selected the preferred turbine suppliers for the 2 phases of its 660MW Walney Extension offshore wind farm, located 19km off the UK coast in the Irish Sea, next to the 367.2MW Walney offshore wind farm.

In February the company announced that it had selected MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, with their 8.0MW turbine, as its preferred supplier for the first phase. A few weeks later it announced Siemens as the preferred turbine supplier for the 330MW second phase. Siemens will supply their 7MW direct drive turbines. The blade production will take place at Siemens’ factory in Hull, the UK.

The project received consent from the UK Government in November last year and has already been awarded a contract for difference under the EMR FID-enabling regime. Construction could start in 2017 subjected to a final investment decision from DONG Energy..

Westermost Rough

At the end of March the 210MW Westermost Rough offshore wind farm reached a milestone when the last of the 35 turbines was installed, by A2SEA’s installation vessel SEA CHALLENGER.

Westermost Rough, located 8km from the Holderness coast, approximately 25km north of Spurn Head at the river Humber estuary, covering an area of around 35km2, is the first offshore wind farm to make commercial use of the Siemens 6MW wind turbine.

The first turbine already produced energy in September 2014. When fully  operational, expected in the next few months, Westermost Rough will be capable of generating enough power to meet the annual electricity demands of over 150,000 households. Westermost Rough will be serviced from the new O&M base at the Royal Dock in Grimsby.

The wind farm is a joint venture between DONG Energy (50%) and its partners Marubeni Corporation (25%) and the UK Green Investment Bank (25%).

Amrumbank West

On 11 February the first of the 80 Siemens 3.6MW turbines was installed at the 288MW Amrumbank West offshore wind farm, located 35km north of Helgoland.

The turbines are installed by the MPI Adventure which can carry the components for 7 turbines in one transport from Cuxport, which takes around 12 hours. The turbine installation is expected to continue until autumn. Foundation installation, performed by the MPI Discovery, was reaching completion at the time of writing.

The wind farm will be connected to the HVDC platform HelWin2. Once fully commissioned, planned by the end of this year, it will generate enough power to supply around 300,000 households annually. The wind farm will be serviced from a new O&M base at Helgoland. Amrumbank West is a project by E.ON Renewables.