EDF Energies Nouvelles has started offshore construction work on the Teesside offshore windfarm off the coast of North East England. This 62 MW windfarm is due to start generating by the end of 2012.
Located off the coast of Redcar in North East England, the windfarm will be equipped with 27 offshore wind turbines supplied by Siemens. With a total installed capacity of 62 MW, it will power up the UK grid with the equivalent of the yearly electricity consumption of 40,000 households and will offsett the annual release of approximately 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The Teesside offshore windfarm was developed and is being built by EDF Energy Renewables, the UK subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, jointly owned with EDF Energy. Work began in 2011 with the construction of an onshore substation and the grid connection. Work at sea started on the 2nd of February 2012 with the installation of the monopile foundations, which will be followed by the assembly of the wind turbines. The facility is due to be commissioned by the end of 2012.
“This is an exciting but very demanding project. Constructing an offshore windfarm is far more complex than building a conventional onshore windfarm owing to the constraints of the marine environment” stated Christian Egal, Chief Executive Officer of EDF Energy Renewables. “I would like to pay tribute to the team, which has managed to rise to the technical, administrative and environmental challenges and has worked successfully with fishermen and all the local stakeholders, so that this first-class project can take shape.”
The Teesside wind farm, EDF Energies Nouvelles’ second offshore facility after the C-Power farm (325 MW) off the coast of Belgium, represents another opportunity for EDF Energies Nouvelles to harness its expertise in offshore wind energy and to pursue its expansion in Europe.
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Offshore WIND staff, February 09, 2012