Foundation installation has been completed at the 1.4 GW East Anglia Three offshore wind farm in the UK.
The owners of the GBP 4 billion (around EUR 4.7 billion) project, ScottishPower Renewables and Masdar, said on 17 August that all 95 monopiles and their transition pieces were in place, with the installation of wind turbines underway.
The monopiles for the 95-turbine offshore wind farm were manufactured by Haizea Wind Group and the Navantia-Windar consortium . Windar also delivered the transition pieces for the project.
Offshore installation was carried out by Seaway7, which used its vessel Seaway Ventus for the monopile work.
According to the developers, the monopiles are the largest to be installed from a jack-up vessel in Europe, with a weight of 1,200-1,800 tonnes, height of 67-84 metres, and a diameter of up to 10.6 metres.
The transition pieces measure 20 metres in height, 8 metres in diameter and weigh more than 400 tonnes.
“With the foundations now in place, Seaway7 continues to progress the installation of inter-array cables to bring East Anglia THREE another step closer to delivering clean, reliable power to more than one million UK homes”, said Lloyd Duthie , CEO at Seaway7.
Wind turbine installation, which started in April, is also under way and is expected to be completed this year, with East Anglia Three scheduled to become fully operational by the end of 2026.
The 1.4 GW offshore wind farm will comprise 95 Siemens Gamesa 14+ MW wind turbines and is the first UK offshore wind project to feature 115-metre blades, according to the developers.
ScottishPower Renewables and Masdar said almost GBP 2 billion (around EUR 2.3 billion) has been invested in the UK supply chain through the project, including foundation design by Wood Thilsted, the manufacturing of the turbine blades at Siemens Gamesa’s factory in Hull, vessel charters from Norfolk-based NR Marine Services and OEG, and support from metocean and seabed consultants Partrac.
East Anglia Three is supporting 2,300 jobs during construction and will create around a hundred long-term roles in the East of England, the project owners said in a press release.