Dong Advances Race Bank Offshore Windfarm in U.K.

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--DONG Energy (Fredericia, Denmark) has selected German engineering giant Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) to supply turbines for the 580-megawatt (MW) Race Bank offshore windfarm in the U.K.

The contract will see Siemens supply 91 of its 6.3-MW, direct-drive wind turbines for the project, which will be located in the Greater Wash area, approximately 27 kilometers off the east coast of England. When commissioned in 2018, it will be capable of generating enough power for about 400,000 households, and it could provide annual carbon savings of more than 830,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to DONG. The project has a total investment value of $3.1 billion.

Samuel Leupold, executive vice president at DONG Energy, said: "I'm very excited about the fact that we can start building the Race Bank offshore windfarm, which will supply green electricity to more than 400,000 British households. The size of this project will enable us to utilize the economies of scale to continue to drive down cost of electricity produced by offshore windfarms. This is a must-win battle, and we are getting one step closer with the decision to build this offshore windfarm."

DONG has been busy signing up partners for the project. From early 2017, A2SEA (Fredericia, Denmark) has been contracted to supply its specialist purpose-built offshore installation vessel "Sea Challenger" to install the 91 Siemens turbines.

At the end of 2013, Industrial Info reported on DONG buying the Race Bank offshore windfarm project from energy utility Centrica plc (OTC:CPYYY) (Windsor, England) for £50 million ($77.8 million). For additional information, see December 19, 2013, article - Dong Snaps Up 580-Megawatt Race Bank Windfarm.

DONG also has selected Siemens as the preferred turbine supplier for the giant Hornsea Project One offshore windfarm, to be located 120 kilometers off the Yorkshire coast in England and covering an area of 407 square kilometers. Siemens will supply 171 of its new 7-MW wind turbines for the 1.2-gigawatt project, which, if it goes ahead, will be the largest offshore windfarm in the world. It is made up of the Hornsea Heron (600 MW) and Hornsea Njord (600 MW) projects. When commissioned, they will be able to power about 800,000 U.K. homes. A final investment decision is expected in the second half of next year.

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