Centrica to Start Up World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm by Year's End

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Construction of the 194-megawatt (MW) Lynn and Inner Dowsing offshore windfarms -- the world's largest offshore windfarm development -- is entering the final phase. The project is expected to begin sending power to the national grid in December, company officials told Industrial Info.

The two adjacent windfarms, located 5 kilometers off of the Lincolnshire Coast of the United Kingdom, will use 54 3.6-MW Siemens (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) turbines and will cost more than $500 million.

The windfarms will be operated by Centrica (LSE:CNA) (Windsor, United Kingdom) and are part of efforts to encourage renewable electricity generation in the UK. The government expects energy companies to construct 33 gigawatts of offshore windfarms by 2020.

Lynn is located 5.2 kilometers from Skegness, and Inner Dowsing is 5.2 kilometers from Ingoldmells. The project comprises 54 Siemens SWT-3.6-107 wind turbines that will reach a total capacity of 194 MW and provide enough power for more than 130,000 homes.

Foundations were laid in 2007, along with power cables connecting the turbines and the windfarms to shore. The turbine generators were erected this year. The SWT-3.6-107 wind turbine model has a three-blade cantilevered rotor mounted upwind of the tower. The power output is controlled by pitch regulation and the turbines operate automatically.

Centrica is already a 50% partner in the Barrow offshore windfarm, located in the East Irish Sea approximately 7 kilometers southwest of Walney Island. The windfarm, which began operation in March 2006, comprises 30 3-MW Vestas modern wind turbines.

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