UK - Masdar says all wind turbines built at London wind energy project

London Array announced that the 175th and last turbine at the first 630MW phase of the London Array Offshore Wind Farm has been built, marking the end of major construction activities.

Turbine installation began in January and has been completed by MPI Discovery, A2SEA’s Sea Worker and Sea Jack.

With all turbines in place and 55 connected and supplying power to the national grid, the wind farm is on track to be fully operational in Spring 2013, a statement said.

The wind farm has been generating energy since October when the first turbine began producing power.

Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, said: “This milestone brings us a step closer to showcasing the economic, social and environmental benefits of clean energy.

“London Array is a testament to how collaboration, the right policies and a commitment to sustainability can advance the new energy industry. Masdar is a proud partner, and we look forward to the completion of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.” London Array is being built around 20km off the coasts of Kent and Essex.

The wind farm will be installed on a 245 sq km site and will be built in two phases. Phase One covers an area of 90 sq km and includes 175 turbines with a combined capacity of 630MW. If approved, the second phase will add enough capacity to bring the total to 870MW.

The project consortium partners have the following shareholdings – DONG Energy owns 50 percent, E.ON has 30 percent and Masdar has a 20 percent stake.

London Array is now focusing on the commissioning and testing of the remaining turbines before the project is handed over to the operations and maintenance team in 2013.

Benj Sykes, head of DONG Energy’s UK Wind business, said: “The London Array will soon be the largest operational offshore wind farm in the world – building offshore wind farms of this size and larger in the future allows us to harvest the advantages of scale and is an important element of our strategy to drive down the cost of energy.”

Masdar is Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted initiative advancing the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable and alternative energy technologies and solutions.

Masdar entered into the London Array scheme when it purchased 40 percent of E.ON’s half share of the scheme, giving Masdar a 20 percent stake in the project overall.

The London Array investment is part of Masdar’s global alternative energy strategy which includes solar, wind and other renewable technologies.

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