Full Power Ahead at Race Bank Offshore Windfarm in U.K.

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--One of the U.K.'s largest offshore winds has been fully commissioned off the coast of Norfolk, England.

Full power is now being produced from the 573-megawatt (MW) Race Bank windfarm following installation of the last turbines in December 2017. Developer Ørsted (Fredericia, Denmark), formerly DONG Energy, said that following 240 hours of acceptance tests of all 91 wind turbines and the 200-hour test of the full windfarm, the windfarm is at full capacity. During the commissioning process of the final turbines, Race Bank also passed 1 terawatt-hour (TWh) of production since construction began in May last year.

Located approximately 16.8 miles off Blakeney Point on the north Norfolk coast, the project occupies an area of 75 square kilometres (km) and is owned by Ørsted (50%), Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 (25%), Macquarie Capital (12.5%) and Sumitomo Corporation (12.5%).

The project boasts 91 turbines from Siemens Gamesa rated at 6 MW each, and at full capacity the project can generate enough power for more than half a million homes. The turbines use the first blades to be manufactured at the Siemens Gamesa blade factory in Hull, England.

Last week, Industrial Info reported on progress at another key U.K. wind project, the 659-MW Walney Extension offshore windfarm located off the coast of Cumbria, which also is being developed by Ørsted. Walney is set to become the world's largest operational windfarm when it is fully commissioned later this year. For additional information, see February 2, 2018, article - Giant Walney Extension Offshore Windfarm Powers Ahead in U.K..

"Full power and 1 terawatt-hour of production are two fantastic milestones and have been achieved by the hard work and dedication of a significant number of people," said David Summers, Ørsted's Project Director for Race Bank. "Not only have we achieved full power on schedule, but we've also done so safely, without compromising our high standards. I'm now looking forward to completing final activities on Race Bank and being able to officially open the project in the summer."

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