ScottishPower Renewables and Masdar have completed installation of all 95 foundations for the £4 billion East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm off the Suffolk coast, clearing a major construction hurdle ahead of the project’s planned completion later this year.
The foundations comprise monopiles weighing between 1,200 and 1,800 tonnes, with some reaching 84 metres in height and 10.6 metres in diameter. The developers say they are the largest monopiles installed from a jack-up vessel in Europe. All 95 transition pieces, each more than 400 tonnes, have also been installed.
Turbine installation is already under way. The project will use 95 Siemens Gamesa turbines, each rated at around 14.7 MW, giving a total capacity of 1.4 GW.
The foundation campaign was carried out by Seaway7 using its Seaway Ventus jack-up vessel. The company is now progressing installation of the wind farm’s inter-array cables.
“East Anglia THREE is our biggest windfarm ever and the completion of the foundation installation is a true engineering triumph,” said Charlie Jordan, chief executive of ScottishPower Renewables.
The scale of the project also extends into the UK supply chain. Almost £2 billion is being spent domestically, including turbine blade manufacturing at Siemens Gamesa’s Hull facility and foundation manufacturing by suppliers including Haizea and the Navantia Seanergies-Windar Renovables joint venture.
For Masdar, East Anglia THREE is its first 50:50 offshore wind joint venture in the UK. “With electricity demand accelerating, offshore wind will be essential to delivering affordable, home-grown power at scale,” said Husain Al Meer, the company’s UK offshore wind executive.
With foundations complete and turbines being installed, the project has moved into the final major stages of offshore construction.
