Electricity has been generated for the first time from the West of Duddon Sands Offshore Windfarm, a major renewable energy project being developed by ScottishPower Renewables and DONG Energy in the Irish Sea.
Engineers have now installed 42 of the 108 turbines that will make up the overall project. The commissioning process is underway, and power from 4 turbines is now being exported to the national grid.
The electricity generated initially connects in to a specially designed offshore substation. The voltage from the turbines is increased and two export cables then take the electricity ashore to the onshore substation at Heysham, where the wind farm is connected to the UK national grid.
Once completed later this year, the wind farm will be capable of generating up to 389 megawatts (MW) of electricity – enough to meet the annual electricity demands of approximately 280,000 homes.
Site work has been underway for two years and more than 1,000 people are currently employed on the project. In this time engineers have installed more than 200 km of cables, and all 108 foundation sections have been completed.
West of Duddon Sands is at the forefront of industry efforts to reduce the cost of offshore wind. The project utilises a new £50m offshore wind terminal at Belfast Harbour. The terminal is the first purpose-built offshore wind installation and pre-assembly harbour in the UK and Ireland and supports up to 300 jobs, ranging from welders to electricians and engineers.
The project also benefits from using two of the world’s most advanced installation vessels. Offshore work is being carried out by the Pacific Orca and the Sea Installer . Working in tandem, the vessels have been used to install the foundations and the turbine components. The size and scale of the purpose-built vessels has driven efficiencies in the installation process. The Pacific Orca is the world’s largest wind farm installation vessel with a length of 161 metres, a breadth of 49 metres and a depth of 10.4 metres.
Located approximately 20km off the Barrow-in-Furness coastline in North West England, the total area covered by the wind farm is 67km², and each individual Siemens turbine has a capacity of 3.6MW.
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Press release, January 28, 2014; Image: ScottishPower Renewables