Vattenfall Begins Work on Ormonde Windfarm

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Swedish energy company Vattenfall AB (Stockholm, Sweden) has announced that construction has begun on its Ormonde windfarm in the Irish Sea, off the Cumbrian coast in northwest England.

The first foundation piles for the 150-megawatt (MW) windfarm were placed during the weekend. Construction is expected to be completed next year, when the farm will start producing enough electricity for about 100,000 homes. The facility is Vattenfall's third U.K. windfarm to begin in the past 18 months and will use 30 wind turbines, of 5 MW each, from REpower Systems AG (ETR:RPW) (Hamburg). The deal for the supply of the turbines was signed in July last year and represented REpower's largest U.K. offshore contract. For additional information, see July 24, 2009, article - REpower Secures 150-Megawatt Ormonde Wind Turbine Contract.

"We are delighted to announce that we have begun the construction of our latest U.K.-based windfarm," said Anders Dahl, the head of Vattenfall Wind Power. "The Ormonde Offshore Windfarm had its first foundation piles installed over the weekend. The construction work is due for completion during 2011, and the first power is expected later that year, he said.

Dahl added: "The giant, 5-MW turbines will make a substantial contribution to supply a large number of households with clean electricity. This supports European Union and U.K. targets for renewable energy, as well as our own ambitions to reduce harmful emissions and to reach climate neutrality by 2050."

Vattenfall is also constructing the 300-MW Thanet Windfarm, located approximately 11 kilometres to the east of Margate, Kent, in southeast England. It is using 100 V90, 3-MW wind turbines from Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH:VWS) (Randers, Denmark). For additional information, see December 4, 2008, article - Vestas to Deliver 100 Wind Turbines for U.K. Offshore Windfarm.

Vattenfall acquired the Edinbane Windfarm on the Isle of Skye in October 2008. The windfarm is under construction using 18 Enercon 2.3-MW wind turbines, with a maximum turbine height of 99.5 metres. When complete this year, it will be capable of generating 41.4 MW of electricity, enough for about 22,000 homes.

In related news, the developer of a 200 million-euro (US$255 million) windfarm on Mount Callan in County Clare, in the west of Ireland, has warned that serious delays may push back the commissioning process to four or five years. West Clare Renewable Energy Limited (Clare, Ireland) claimed that the 90-MW windfarm, subject to planning permission, could take years to be connected to the grid, unless the government overhauls the current connection process. The windfarm is less a kilometre from the grid. When operational, the windfarm will be capable of supplying enough power for the whole county, or almost 60,000 homes.

IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the Wind Energy, Geothermal, Hydroelectric, Landfill Gas-to-Energy and Utility-Scale Solar power plants throughout North America, and is now expanding coverage across the world.

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