When the first offshore wind turbine was installed, in 1991, questions about reliability and simplicity throughout the whole lifetime of a project is even more important offshore than onshore,
Offshore power generation process is more expensive,
technically demanding, and time-consuming.
Offshore turbines need to work for years in a harsh marine environment, where conditions for erosion are more severe than on the land.
Even advantages – like high wind speeds – can provide difficulties, because turbines tend to shut down when wind speed exceeds 25 meters per second.
Turbine parts keep increasing in size to allow more output. Wind power plants have got bigger as more turbines are installed, this complicates every aspect of wind farms– from construction to transport to installation. Logistical challenges in general are a greater task offshore, where power plants can sometimes be many kilometres from shore and difficult to access during bad weather periods, so that even the smallest technical issue – especially those related to service – can make things more expensive.
One of Siemens Renewables big projects is the London Array
he London Array project started in 2001, when a series of environmental studies in the outer Thames Estuary confirmed the area as a suitable wind farm site. Two years later, the government gave London Array Ltd a 50-year lease for the site and cable route to shore.
Planning consent for a 1GW* offshore wind farm was granted in 2006, with the onshore works approved in 2007.
Construction of the onshore substation at Cleve Hill started in July 2009 and was completed in October 2012. Offshore construction started in March 2011, when we installed the first of 177 foundations for the project.
The first turbine was installed in January 2012, first power was achieved in October that year and the final turbine was installed in December 2012.
Facts and Figures
- An offshore area of 100km2
- 175 wind turbines
- Two offshore substations
- Nearly 450km of offshore cabling
- One onshore substation
- 630MW of electricity
- Enough power for nearly half a million UK homes a year – two thirds of the homes in Kent
- Reducing harmful CO2 emissions by more than 925,000 tons per year
In May we will be visiting a small company which does wnid turbines for farmers.