The giant London Array offshore wind farm has moved from being a project in its development phase into full construction, says the development consortium.
The London Array consortium – comprising Dong Energy, E.On and Masdar – has announced that it has awarded contracts, to supply marine crew and vessels for the installation of the wind farm’s foundations and turbines, to MPI and A2SEA. These contracts are the last of the major installation contracts to be awarded for phase one of the project.
MPI will supply London Array with the MPI Adventure, a vessel currently being built in China, to lift and install the wind turbines and their foundations. A2SEA will supply the Sea Worker, a jack-up barge that is expected to be on site from March 2011.
The state-of-the-art MPI Adventure will be capable of transporting, lifting and installing more wind turbines and foundations than other vessels currently in service. The barge is expected to start operations in April 2011.
Phase one of the London Array wind farm will have a capacity of 630 MW and is expected to be completed in 2012. It will cover an area of 90 km2 in the Thames Estuary and will consist of 175 turbines.
Phase two of the project will bring the capacity of the wind farm to 1000 MW.
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