Status Operational Rotor diameter 120 m Site area 73 km² Nameplate capacity 367 Distance from shore 15 km (9 mi) | Type Offshore Capacity factor 43% Construction began March 2010 Commission date February 2012 Units operational 102 × 3.6 MW | |
 | ||
Make and model Siemens Wind Power: SWT-3.6 Location 14km west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria | ||
Brattbergs and bellmouths the walney wind farm song
Walney Wind Farm is an offshore wind farm 14 km west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria, in the Irish Sea, England. It has a capacity of 367 MW, which makes it one of the world's largest offshore wind farms. The wind farm was developed by Walney (UK) Offshore Windfarms Limited, a partnership between DONG Energy and Scottish and Southern Energy. The farm is immediately north west of the West of Duddon Sands Wind Farm and also to the west of Ormonde Wind Farm. The farm is in water depths ranging from 19m to 23m and covers an area of approximately 73 km2.
Contents
- Brattbergs and bellmouths the walney wind farm song
- Walney wind farm from isle of man
- Description
- Construction
- Walney Extension
- Involvement in oil spill
- References
Walney wind farm from isle of man
Description
Both phases have 51 turbines giving a nameplate capacity of 367 MW. Until September 2012 it was the world's largest operational offshore wind farm. It is expected to generate about 1,300 GW·h/year of electricity, with a load factor of 43%.
Construction
In 2004 DONG Energy was awarded a 50-year lease from The Crown Estate to develop a wind farm off Walney Island, as part of the second UK offshore wind farm tendering process known as "Round 2". The farm was constructed sequentially in two phases with overlapping installation activities to reduce the overall construction timeframe.
The project involved constructing the wind turbines and their foundations, building two offshore substations and installing two undersea power cables, one for each phase, and two short onshore cables to connect to two existing onshore Electrical substations for connection into the UK National Grid. A cable was laid by Stemat Spirit. Phase 1 connects to a substation at Heysham and Phase 2 connects to substation at Stanah, south of Fleetwood. Both undersea cables pass close by Barrow Wind Farm. All the construction work was expected to take less than 2 years, with both phases operational by the end of 2011. On 11 July 2011 Phase 1 became operational, comprising 51 turbines with an installed capacity of 183.6MW.
Walney 2 began sending power to the grid on 1 November 2011. In February 2012, DONG Energy claimed to have installed the 51 turbines in Walney 2 in 5 months and 14 days, including monopiles and complete turbines; about 3.25 days per turbine. Walney 1 took 7 months. The improvement is due to commonality of projects and resources. The wind farm was officially opened on 9 February 2012 by the new energy secretary, Ed Davey, MP, although the last of the 51 turbines in Walney 2 were only activated in April 2012.
Walney Extension
In November 2014 DONG Energy was given development consent for an extension to the Walney offshore wind farm. The development consent allowed a maximum of 207 turbines to be added to the existing 102 turbines. The maximum generating capacity of the extension was said to be 750MW although DONG was reported to be proceeding with a project based around 660MW. Construction is expected to begin in 2017. In 2015 DONG chose the 8MW Vestas V164 for Phase 1, and the 7MW Siemens gearless turbine for Phase 2.
Involvement in oil spill
In 2014 a dive vessel, owned by Danish firm Offshore Marine Services, was carrying out routine inspection work when an anchor cable broke and the ship slammed into one of 102 turbines installed at the Walney Offshore Wind Farm. The UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency surveyed the crash site and reported that a surface sheen stretching 33 feet wide and 0.7 nautical miles long was trailing the vessel. The agency said that, unlike heavier crude oil, the marine engine oil should evaporate or disperse naturally.