Galloper’s ongoing performance is supported by a dedicated Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Facility located at Harwich International Port in Essex. From this strategic coastal location, our specialist teams monitor, maintain, and service the wind farm to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient energy generation — every day of the year.
The O&M base is the heartbeat of Galloper’s daily operations. It houses offices, warehousing, and the wind farm’s control room, as well as a pontoon from which the crew transfer vessels to transport crew to the wind farm and back every day. Using real-time monitoring systems, the team keeps a close eye on the turbines, substation, and cables, making sure everything is performing at its best and enabling both planned maintenance and rapid-response repairs when needed. 60 full time roles are needed to support Galloper every day including turbine technicians, engineers and marine coordinators as well as management and administrative staff.
Along with providing clean energy, the wind farm also brings long-term economic and employment benefits to the local area — building skills, careers, and a sustainable future along the Essex and wider East Anglian coast.
The construction of Galloper Wind Farm was a major engineering achievement, involving years of planning, collaboration, and complex marine and land-based work.
Onshore construction began in 2016, starting with civil works near Sizewell, Suffolk. Offshore construction commenced shortly after, with seabed preparation and the installation of subsea cables and foundations. All 56 Siemens Gamesa 6.3 MW turbines were installed and commissioned by March 2018, with the wind farm officially opening in September 2018.
Installing 56 monopile foundations and transition pieces.
Laying two 45 km export cables beneath the seabed to connect the offshore and onshore substations.
Installing the offshore substation platform, which collects and transforms the power generated by the turbines.
Transporting and installing each turbine using specialist installation vessels, with precision in often challenging sea conditions.
Horizontal directional drilling beneath the beach at Sizewell, Suffolk, just north of Sizewell B nuclear power station, to bring the offshore export cables ashore.
Building the onshore substation, where electricity is transformed and connected to the National Grid.
Cable installation through carefully planned routes from landfall to the substation.
Harwich was determined to be the ideal location for a dedicated Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Facility because of its distance from the wind farm, the existing port infrastructure, numerous local suppliers and contractors, and excellent national and international transport links.
Construction began in November 2018 and was completed around 12 months later, on budget and on time in late 2019. The team fully relocated from temporary facilities into their new home, in early 2020.
Galloper’s construction created hundreds of jobs, involved over 30 UK-based suppliers, and demonstrated the UK’s ability to deliver large-scale renewable infrastructure. Today, it stands as a testament to what collaboration, innovation, and determination can achieve in the transition to a low-carbon future.
