Onshore construction has begun at Burbo Bank Extension, DONG Energy’s 258 megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm located 8 kilometres off the UK coast in Liverpool Bay.
To support the development Wirral Council is jointly hosting a ‘Burbo Bank Extension Supply Chain Event’, to provide companies who could possibly benefit from the development the chance to find out about the opportunities available. The event is jointly hosted by DONG Energy, Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership and Wirral Council and will be held on Tuesday, 2nd June at the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton.
When completed, Burbo Bank Extension will be capable of supplying the electricity needs of around 180,000 UK homes. The development has already proved to be a pioneering project in terms of the number of UK partners on board. It will see the world’s first deployment of a new 8MW turbine that produces more than double the power of the existing Burbo Bank turbines.
At the recent EWEA Conference in Denmark, Programme Director for Burbo Bank Extension, Klaus Skoust Moller reiterated the supply chain opportunities when he said: “DONG Energy is absolutely committed to investing in the UK and with construction now underway on Burbo Bank Extension, we want to see opportunities continue in the UK supply chain.
“Burbo Bank Extension is a unique project in terms of the number of UK-based firms we have appointed, and we now hope to see our large suppliers continue this trend by focussing on UK content throughout their involvement with this project.”
The offshore wind farm will feature 32 MHI Vestas 8MW turbines, whilst some transition pieces for foundations are to be manufactured at the Offshore Structures (Britain) Ltd Teesside plant and a £12 million contract for construction of the onshore substation was recently signed between DONG Energy and Balfour Beatty.