The 353MW Galloper offshore wind farm has achieved full generation with all 56 Siemens Gamesa turbines now generating renewable electricity off Suffolk, UK.
innogy has led on the development and construction of Galloper on behalf of the project partners, and confirmed full generation was achieved on Thursday, 29 March as Siemens Gamesa switched on the last of the 56 turbines.
Construction of the GBP 1.5 billion wind farm located 30km off the Suffolk coast has been completed on schedule and within budget, the developer said.
Progress on the project has moved at pace with foundation installation completed two months ahead of schedule in March 2017 and completion of construction and first generation achieved by the end of 2017.
“Getting all the turbines switched on means we’ve done it and in record time! We can now celebrate the project moving into the operation phase,” Galloper Project Director, Toby Edmonds , said.
”We are proud to have employed 700 people during the construction of the project and have also established a team of 70 people to operate the wind farm from Harwich bringing prosperity and opportunity to the east coast of England. Over its operating lifetime, fifty eight percent of the investment at Galloper will be invested in UK companies.”
A planning application is currently being progressed for the Operations & Maintenance building and infrastructure. Once planning permission is granted, construction of the base and supporting infrastructure is expected to take around 12 months.