Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm
7:41 AM
The Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm project was originally developed by Greater Gabbard Offshore Winds Limited (GGOWL) which was a joint venture between Airtricity and Fluor. Airtricity was subsequently bought by Scottish and Southern Energy who have bought out Fluor's 50% stake for £40m which is expected to cost £1.3b. Fluor are now contracted to design, supply, installation and commissioning of the balance of the plant. Scottish and Southern sold a 50% stake to RWE, the owners of Npower (UK), in November 2008 for £308m.
The project was given the go-ahead in May 2008.
In October 2009 Seajacks Ltd delivered its 7,000 tonne Leviathan vessel to Fluor Ltd which will sailed to Harwich to prepare the hook-up and commissioning of an in-field substation and then installation of the turbines. The first foundations were installed in autumn 2009 with the first of a total of 140 turbines to be installed in the spring 2010. Construction is expected to be completed in 2012.
At April 2011, 108 turbines were installed.
The first MWh of generation was achieved on 29 December 2010.
An extension of the project, called Galloper, may be agreed during 2012.
Incidents
On 12 November 2009, a man was killed and a woman injured after a chain broke and the two people were hit with pieces of the chain. Police responded to the incident, and an investigation was launched. The casualties were on board a tugboat, the Typhoon.
A man died and another suffered serious injuries following an accident at Parkeston Quay, Harwich. Per Terp, a 42-year-old Siemens engineer from Norresundby, Denmark, died in the incident. A 43-year-old German national was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital. The incident happened on Friday, May 21 at about 7.50 am while loading a wind turbine blade on the vessel Seajack.
Specification
- Number of turbines: up to 140
- Power rating: 500 MW
- Load factor: 'greater than 40%'
- Estimated output: 1.9 TWh per year
- Cost: £1512 million[2] (£650 million not counting grid connection)
- Location: offshore, 23 kilometres (14 mi) from Sizewell on the Inner Gabbard and The Galloper sandbanks
| Greater Gabbard Wind Farm | |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Locale | Inner Gabbard and The Galloper banks North Sea Suffolk Coast |
| Status | Under construction |
| Commission date | 2012 (expected) |
| Owner(s) | Scottish and Southern RWE Npower Renewables |
| Turbine information | |
| Turbines | 140 |
| Manufacturer(s) | Siemens Wind Power |
| Model(s) | Siemens 3.6 MW turbines |
| Wind farm information | |
| Distance from shore | 23 km (14 mi) |
| Power generation information | |
| Maximum capacity | 500 MW |
