First Turbine Installed at Blyth

Jan de Nul’s jack-up vessel Vole au Vent has installed the first of five 8.3MW MHI Vestas turbines at the 41.5MW Blyth Offshore Demonstrator project off the coast of Northumberland, UK, EDF Energy Renewables reports.

The installation of the first turbine was completed on Monday, 18 September.

EDF’s CEO Matthieu Hue said: “This is great news to have the first of five turbines installed and brings us another step closer to completing this exciting and innovative project.”

The gravity base foundations (GBFs) were installed last week using the new “float and submerge” process for the first time.

Cable laying works being carried out by VBMS are now underway. Around 11 kilometres of buried 66Kv offshore cables will connect the individual turbines and bring the electricity onshore, where a further 1.5 kilometre of onshore cable will link directly to a new substation built on part of the site of the former Blyth power station.

Flemming Ougaard, MHI Vestas Chief Operations Officer, said: “We are delighted to have installed the first of 5 turbines at the Blyth Demonstrator Project safely and on time. In addition to providing clean energy for the UK, this collaboration with EDF Energy Renewables serves exceptionally important purposes for MHI Vestas, including the installation and operation of 66kV equipment – switchgear, transformer, and array cables. This positions our company well as the industry moves increasingly toward the 66kV standard.”

Wholly owned by EDF Energies Nouvelles, the Blyth Offshore Demonstrator project is being built by EDF Energy Renewables, a 50-50 UK joint venture between EDF Energies Nouvelles and EDF Energy.The project has consent for up to 15 turbines when fully constructed, with a maximum total generating capacity of 99.9MW.