East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm, a joint venture between ScottishPower Renewables and Green Investment Group, has successfully generated its first power as the project takes another significant step towards completion.
As of Thursday 12th September, clean, green power from one turbine is now flowing to the onshore substation at Burstall, near Bramford in Suffolk. The first of the 102 turbines to begin generating power is known as WTG E19, and is located over 43km from the coast of Lowestoft.
Engineers have already started commissioning further turbines and more power will come online at regular intervals. So far 25 turbines have been fully constructed. Once complete, East Anglia ONE will produce 714 megawatts (MW) of clean, renewable energy for the UK, enough to power over 630,000 homes*.
The largest offshore windfarm built off the coast of East Anglia, each of East Anglia ONE’s turbines are being pre-assembled and loaded out from Peel Ports Great Yarmouth to the windfarm site 43km from the coast. The power generated from the turbines is then transferred via underground cables from the windfarm to the onshore substation.
Each 7MW Siemens Gamesa wind turbine consists of three, 75-metre fibre glass blades, a 90 metre-high tower and a nacelle (the head of the turbine).
The generation of first power marks another milestone for East Anglia ONE, and all of the turbines will be installed and operational in 2020.
Charlie Jordan, East Anglia ONE Project Director, said: “First power being generated at East Anglia ONE is a huge achievement.
“We are continuing to progress towards completion of the offshore windfarm and reaching this point is down to the incredible efforts of everyone involved, from local contractors and employees through to national and international businesses. We’ve worked hard to get to this point and look forward to continuing to work together to bring each turbine online.
“Once operational, East Anglia ONE will produce clean energy the UK needs, whilst also providing long-term jobs and opportunities to the people and businesses of East Anglia both now and in the future.”
Ed Northam, head of GIG in the UK and Europe, said: “First power is always an important milestone for any project and I congratulate the Scottish Power Renewables team working on the project from Great Yarmouth. This is an important project for Suffolk, and the UK, and we look forward to the day when all 102 state-of-the art turbines are producing green power.”
East Anglia ONE is the first of four offshore windfarms ScottishPower Renewables is developing in the region. For more information about East Anglia ONE visit: www.spreastanglia.co.uk
Notes to the Editor
About East Anglia ONE:
East Anglia ONE will see 102 wind turbines installed in the southern North Sea, approximately 30 miles off the coast. The overall investment will be in the region of £2.5 billion, and the project is planned to meet the annual electricity demands of the equivalent of more than 630,000 homes*.
East Anglia ONE Offshore Windfarm project will include:
- Offshore wind turbines and foundations (102 wind turbines to provide an installed capacity of 714 megawatts).
- An offshore substation to collect the electricity from the turbines and transform it to a form suitable for transfer to shore.
- Two offshore export cables, each around 85 km in length, to transfer the electricity to shore.
- A landfall site with onshore transition pits to connect the offshore and onshore cables.
- Six onshore underground cables, each of around 37 km in length, to transfer the electricity from landfall to an onshore converter station.
- An onshore substation adjacent to the existing substation at Bramford, Suffolk, to connect the offshore windfarm to the National Grid.
*Based on the following calculation: 714 MW (installed capacity) x 0.3836 “offshore wind” average load factor (Digest of UK Energy Statistics) x 8,766 hours (hours per year)/3,781MWh (average domestic annual consumption) = 634,997 homes powered equivalent
About ScottishPower Renewables
ScottishPower Renewables is part of Iberdrola, a world leader in clean energy with an installed capacity of over 29,500MW, and the leading wind energy producer worldwide.
Securing its position at the forefront of the renewable energy industry, ScottishPower Renewables now has 40 operational windfarm sites producing over 2,000 MW.