Power has been generated for the first time at the Race Bank offshore windfarm being built by Dong Energy off the North Norfolk coast.
The project will eventually feature 91 of Siemen’s 6MW turbines with a combined capacity of 573MW. Around two thirds of the blades will be manufactured at Siemen’s new factory in Hull.
“I’m delighted we’ve reached first power at Race Bank, which is an important milestone that proves every part of the transmission and generation equipment at the wind farm is successfully working,” said Dong Energy’s Race Bank programme director Klaus Skoust Møller. “Construction is progressing well and on schedule.
“It will be great to see the first blades from Hull loaded out and installed on the remaining turbines in the coming weeks as well.”
The installation is being managed from Dong’s construction base at Grimsby Fish Docks. Once operational, the windfarm will be served by a new multi-million-pound offshore wind operations and maintenance hub, which the Danish company is planning to construct at Grimsby’s Royal Dock.
The Race Bank project is jointly owned by Dong Energy (50 per cent), Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 (25 per cent), Macquarie Capital (12.5 per cent) and Sumitomo Corporation (12.5 per cent).
Earlier in the week, Dong officially opened the Burbo Bank Extension offshore windfarm near Liverpool Bay.