Full power output has been achieved at the Westermost Rough offshore windfarm, a major renewable energy project located off the UK’s east coast.
Westermost Rough is capable of generating up to 210 megawatts (MW) of electricity – enough to meet the annual electricity demands of well over 150,000 UK homes.
It is the first offshore windfarm to make commercial use of the Siemens 6MW wind turbine, with each of the 35 turbines in use taller than the Humber suspension bridge, the towers of which are 156m in height.
The offshore construction programme has seen over 900 people employed in dozens of companies and is an example of offshore wind generating a significant number of jobs in a part of Britain blighted by unemployment.
The focus at Westermost Rough now is to safely finish final testing and ensure that the entire facility is handed over to the operations team ready for work. The design life estimate for the field is 25 years.
Construction of the windfarm is being managed from DONG Energy’s office in the Fish Dock, Grimsby, by a team of around 50 people. A permanent home for the windfarm’s operations and maintenance team has also been built at the Royal Dock in Grimsby.
Westermost Rough is located 8km from the Holderness coast, approximately 25km north of Spurn Head at the entrance to the Humber.
Cables bring the power ashore on the Holderness Coast north of the coastal village of Withernsea and into the national grid at the Westermost Rough onshore substation on Staithes Road, Hedon, outside Hull.
A2Sea installed the wind turbines using its offshore installation vessel SEA NB002. GeoSea won the contract to install the mono-pile foundations for the turbines.
Westermost Rough is a joint venture between DONG Energy (50%) and its partners Marubeni Corporation (25%) and the UK Green Investment Bank (25%).
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