Status Operational Type Offshore Make and model Vestas | Commission date 23 September 2010 Max. water depth 14–23 m (46–75 ft) Operator Vattenfall | |
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Country England, United Kingdom Location Offshore of Thanet district, Kent | ||
The Thanet Wind Farm (also sometimes called Thanet Offshore Wind Farm) is an offshore wind farm 7 miles (11 km) off the coast of Thanet district in Kent, England. It is the world's third largest offshore wind farm, as of June 2013, the largest being the London Array, followed by Walney Wind Farm. It has a nameplate capacity (maximum output) of 300 MW and it cost £780–900 million (US$1.2–1.4 billion). Thanet is one of fifteen Round 2 wind projects announced by the Crown Estate in January 2004 but the first to be developed. It was officially opened on 23 September 2010, when it overtook Horns Rev 2 as the biggest offshore wind farm in the world. It has since been overtaken by Walney.
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Description
The project covers an area of 13.5 square miles (35 km2), with 500 metres (1,600 ft) between turbines and 800 metres (2,600 ft) between the rows. Average water depth is 14–23 metres (46–75 ft). Planning permission for the project was granted on 18 December 2006. According to Thanet Offshore Wind Ltd, it was expected to be "the largest operational offshore wind farm in the World". The Thanet project has a total capacity of 300 MW which, by yearly average, is sufficient to supply approximately 240,000 homes. It has an estimated generation of 960 GW·h per year of electricity, i.e. a projected capacity factor of 36.5% and an average power density of 3.1 W/m².
In 2012, the yearly production achieved was 821.68 GW·h, i.e. a capacity factor of 31.3%.
Two submarine power cables (by Italy-based Prysmian Group) run from an offshore substation within the wind farm connecting to an existing onshore substation in Richborough, Kent, connecting to a world-first two transformers. The offshore substation steps up the turbine voltage of 33 kV to 132 kV for the grid. Maintenance of the turbines is carried out by Vestas, while a separate maintenance agreement with SLP Energy covers the turbines foundations. Turbines are installed by the Danish offshore wind farm services provider A2SEA. The TIV MPI Resolution carried and installed the turbines.
Financial structure
The Thanet scheme is project financed. Thanet Offshore Wind Ltd (TOW), the project company was owned by hedge fund Christofferson, Robb & Co. It was purchased from a group of sponsors led by Warwick Energy Ltd. In August 2008 Christofferson, Robb & Co placed the project back on the market. On 10 November 2008, Vattenfall, a Swedish energy company, acquired TOW.
Current status
The development was due to be in place by 2008. Vestas were chosen as the preferred turbine supplier in July 2006, and SLP were chosen as preferred supplier for the foundations in September 2006. The project was delayed by a number of issues including problems with Vestas who temporarily withdrew their V90 offshore model from the market in 2007 following gearbox problems. The V90-3MW was re-released for sales starting from May 2008.
Vattenfall acquired the project in November 2008. On 28 June 2010, they reported that all turbines had been installed for commissioning due by the end of 2010. The wind farm was completed in September 2010.
Criticism
Since turbine construction makes up the majority of the project cost and the UK has no capacity, much of the work was contracted to foreign companies, resulting in only 20% of the investment going to British firms. There have been calls for the creation of a domestic wind industry.
An article by climate change sceptic and intelligent design supporter Christopher Booker estimates that due to the wind being intermittent, Thanet Wind Farm will only produce 75MW on average. The owners will receive a subsidy of £60M per year on top of the £30–40M cost of the electricity due to Renewables Obligation Certificates, and based on the estimated working life of the turbines of 20 years, the total subsidy will come to £1.2 billion. Since there are only 21 permanent green jobs, the subsidy per job comes to around £3M per year. However, Booker used a generic capacity of 25%, lower than Vattenfall's estimate for Thanet of 35–40% capacity (105–120 MW). The working life figure is also lower than other estimates of 40 years.
Extension
In June 2010, the Crown Estate announced that Thanet wind farm could be extended to produce an additional 147 MW. However, in October 2010, Vattenfall stated that it would not proceed.