All four export cables have been installed at RWE npower renewables’ flagship Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm off the North Wales coast.
The final subsea cable burial was completed between the coast and one of the two offshore substations on Tuesday 2 July.
In addition, half of the foundations are finished with a monopile and grouted transition piece in place – a further 25 locations have a monopile installed.
Gwynt y Môr Project Director Toby Edmonds said: “Installation activity at the offshore site has been going well in recent weeks and the completion of export cable burial is an important stage in the construction of the wind farm.
“Four cables have been buried in the seabed between the offshore platforms, more than ten miles offshore, and the beach at Pensarn.
“These will carry the electricity generated by the wind turbines to shore, with our onshore underground cable route delivering the power on to our new substation near St Asaph Business Park.
“In addition progress on monopile and transition piece installation has been excellent with 80 locations complete with full foundations and another 25 with just a monopile.
“Two installation vessels, the Stanislav Yudin and the Friedrich Ernestine, are currently working offshore to complete foundation works which are scheduled to be finished in 2014.”
Work on the export cable has been carried out by Prysmian PowerLink Services, based in Essex, using their barge, Cable Enterprise. It’s been a regular sight on the beach at Pensarn as the four export cables were buried for connection underneath the sea wall and railway line to the onshore underground cable.
Prysmian PowerLink Services’ Installation Director John Golding said: “It’s been a long and complex project, which started with a piece of paper and a 3D model of what the Cable Enterprise could look like, and from that RWE put their faith in Prysmian and this vision has been turned into reality. We are very pleased with the result.”
At 576MW, Gwynt y Môr is one of the largest offshore wind farms currently in construction in Europe. It is a shared investment between partners RWE Innogy, Stadtwerke München GmbH and Siemens.
Once fully operational, energy generation from Gwynt y Môr is expected to be equivalent to the average annual needs of around 400,000 homes.
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Press release, July 10, 2013; Image: RWE