The heavy-lift vessel Oleg Strashnov has installed the offshore substation for the East Anglia ONE wind farm in the southern North Sea, some 59 km from the coast of Lowestoft.
The substation comprises a 56-meter tall jacket foundation that weighs 2,600-tonnes and a 4,200-tonne topside that will house all the electrical equipment needed to transfer the power from the 102-turbine offshore wind farm to the UK grid, with the connection point being in Suffolk.
Over the next four months around 60 electrical engineers and technicians will work around-the-clock to complete the installation of the equipment required to commission the substation, to have the substation ready for the first turbines that will be switched on.
The team will be based on-board the GMS Endeavour jack-up ‘hotel’ vessel, which will be situated adjacent to the substation.
Charlie Jordan , East Anglia ONE project director for the developer ScottishPower Renewables, said: “The offshore substation is the single largest and most complex piece of kit that we will build for this project, so it is good to see the structure safely in place. Now we will press on with the intricate electrical work, and continue with the installation of the turbine foundations.”
“From the middle of next year we will start installing the towers and the blades, with electricity being generated before the end of 2019. We are very pleased with progress on East Anglia ONE. It won’t be long now until the windfarm is making an important contribution to the UK’s clean energy goals,” Jordan said.