Danish wind farm developer Ørsted said today that the last of 87 turbines had been installed at the Walney Extension wind farm in the Irish Sea.
The wind development, which is a shared-ownership project between Ørsted (50%) and two Danish pension funds at 25% each, has been installed in two phases using turbines from MHI Vestas and Siemens Gamesa.
Ørsted claims the 659 megawatt wind farm will be the world’s biggest once fully operational later this year.
The Danish wind developer said work will now begin on the commissioning of turbines and the connection of substations.
Walney Extension will generate enough electricity to meet the energy demand of 500,000 homes.
Andrew Cotterell, Walney Extension programme director at Ørsted, said: “We’re delighted to announce that all 87 turbines have been installed. It’s thanks to the hard work of all the teams involved, both within Ørsted and our partner contractors, that we have successfully reached this significant milestone on schedule.
“We are now focused on completing construction and looking forward to seeing the world’s largest wind farm brought safely into commercial operation later this year.”
“Walney Extension is a prime example of the UK leading the way for offshore wind globally – demonstrating the commercial viability of the latest turbine technology from MHI Vestas and Siemens Gamesa, as well as the strength of the rapidly growing UK supply chain with blades manufactured on the Isle of Wight and in Hull.”
Clark MacFarlane, MD of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy in the UK, said: “The installation of the 47th and final 7MW turbine at Walney Extension is another celebration of how the wind industry is developing and what can be achieved in a very short space of time when we work in partnership. The first of our turbines at Walney Extension was installed as recently as beginning of January and the wind farm is now up.
“This demonstrates why the cost of Offshore Energy has come down significantly and is now an affordable solution for the UK consumer. This is an industrial success story driven by Orsted and its partners, and one that Siemens Gamesa is proud to be part of.”
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