– First of 56 turbine foundations installed
– Major milestone in construction of 336MW offshore wind farm
– Foundations expected to be completed early summer 2017
A major milestone was reached today (28th December 2016) with the successful installation of the first of fifty six turbine foundations at the 336MW Galloper Offshore Wind Farm. The wind farm is approximately 30km, off the coast of Suffolk and once completed will generate enough power for over 330,000 homes. The commencement of foundation works is the latest milestone to be achieved in what has been an exciting year for the project.
The foundations are the steel monopiles and transition pieces placed into the seabed, which will provide a solid base for the 6MW Siemens wind turbines due to be installed from quarter two next year.
Project Director, Toby Edmonds, said: “It has been a tremendously exciting twelve months for the Galloper project, with a huge amount of progress both in terms of the onshore infrastructure and the offshore preparatory works. It is fantastic to have commenced turbine foundation installation, another major milestone for the project. From here-on-in, we will begin to see the offshore components of this nationally significant renewable energy project, really take shape.”
GeoSea, a specialist in complex offshore marine engineering projects, are managing the foundation installation and have sub contracted Sif Group and Smulders to produce the monopiles and transition pieces. The components are being loaded-out onto the GeoSea installation vessel, Innovation, in Rotterdam and Vlissingen with the installation phase planned to be complete by early summer next year.
Each of the foundation will be around 85m in length and 7.5m in diameter, and weigh around up to 1200 tonne. Tideway, part of Deme group, is carrying out the scour protection works for the foundations, with the programme of works, well underway.
Toby Edmonds added: “This time last year we had recently achieved Financial Close for the project and announced our new project partners. In the last year we have built the majority of the onshore substation infrastructure; connected the first of two export cables; opened the project Offshore Construction Coordination Base in Lowestoft; celebrated the Siemens assembly base ground-breaking ceremony in Great Yarmouth; and submitted the planning application for our Operations & Maintenance Base in Harwich. Next year, the bulk of our focus will, of course, be on offshore construction, but we will also be finishing the installation of the onshore electrical infrastructure and constructing the Operations & Maintenance base.”
Galloper Offshore Wind Farm is an extension of the existing and fully operational Greater Gabbard Wind Farm and represents an expected investment potential of around £1.5 billion. innogy SE is leading the development and construction of the project on behalf of its partners who also include the UK Green Investment Bank, Siemens Financial Services and Macquarie Capital. Once operational it is estimated that the average annual generation expected at the site will be equivalent to the approximate domestic needs of around 336,000 average UK households.