Coordinates: 51°44′22″N 1°10′28″E / 51.7394°N 1.1744°E / 51.7394; 1.1744

Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm

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Gunfleet Sands 1 & 2
The farm from a passing ship, 30 September 2010
Map
CountryEngland, United Kingdom
LocationNorthern Thames Estuary 7 km off Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
Coordinates51°44′22″N 1°10′28″E / 51.7394°N 1.1744°E / 51.7394; 1.1744
StatusOperational
Construction began2009
Commission date2010
Owner(s)DONG Energy (51%)
Wind farm
TypeOffshore
Power generation
Units operational48
Make and modelSiemens Wind Power SWT-3.6-107
Nameplate capacity172MW
Capacity factor~30-35%
External links
WebsiteGunfleet Sands (Dong Energy)
CommonsRelated media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm is a 173 MW wind farm 7 km off the Clacton-on-Sea coast in the Northern Thames Estuary.

The 108MW Gunfleet Sands 1 wind farm gained planning consent in 2003/4; in 2006 Dong Energy acquired the project and submitted an application for a second 64MW windfarm Gunfleet Sands 2 adjacent to the first, which received consent in 2008. Construction of both wind farms using Siemens Wind Power SWT-3.6-107 took place between 2008 and 2010.

In 2013 work began on a demonstration project Gunfleet Sands 3, use to test Siemens 6MW wind turbine model.

Gunfleet Sands 1 & 2

Gunfleet Sands 1 & 2 are located 7km south east of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, UK; in water at depths of 2 to 15 m (6 ft 7 in to 49 ft 3 in) (spring tidal range ~4.6m); Gunfleet 1 consists of 30 turbines in a 5x6 array, whilst Gunfleet 2 consists of a 9x2 array of turbines directly adjacent to the southeast. The average wind speed is 8.8 m/s (29 ft/s) @60m elevation.[1]

The offshoe turbines connect to an offshore substation at 33kV, which steps up the tranmission voltage to 132kV; the export cable makes landfall at Holland Havev (nr. Holland-on-Sea, and connects to the the National Grid at the existing Cooks Green substation via underground cables.[2]

Development

Development of an offshore wind farm site near Clacton-on-Sea began in 1996 under Windmaster Developments;[3] Windmaster was acquired by Enron in 2000, and passed to General Electric (GE Wind Energy) in 2002.[4] A Round 1 concesssion for the development was awarded in 2001, and planning consents obtained in 2003/4.[1][5][6]

In June 2006 Dong submitted a consent application and environmental statement to the Department of Trade and Industry for permission to build and operate an extension (Gunfleet Sands 2) to the originally consented project, including up to 22 further turbines with an additional capacity of 64MW.[7] In Dec. 2006 Dong Energy acquired the 100MW "Gunfleet 1" project from GE.[8]

A contract for 30 Siemens Wind Power 3.6MW turbines was signed in April 2007.[9]

Planning application for Gunfleet Sands 2 was submitted to the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in June 2007,[10] and permission was received in 2008.[1]

Construction

Construction began in 2008, with initial work including onshore infrastructure and cable installation.[10] A formal groundbreaking ceremony was held in April 2008.[11] The first turbine was installed in April 2009.[12] Construction of the wind farm was delayed, in part due to cable laying company Oceanteam going into administration in May 2009, as well as the breakdown of liftboat KS Titan 2.[13]

Electrical generation from the partially complete wind farm began in Aug. 2009.[14] The wind farm was fully operational by March 2010; the wind farm was formally opened on 15 June 2010 by Anders Eldrup (Dong Energy) and UK Energy minister Charles Hendry. Cost of the development was 4 billion danish Kroner.[15] Large scale development of wind farms in the UK was made possible by generous subsidies - in 2010 wind farms were receiving 1.20 danish Kroner per kWh, compared to approximately 0.50 Kroner (Horns Rev 2) in Denmark.[16]

An operations and service center was built in Brightlingsea on the site of a former boatyard.[17][18]

Operational history

The wind farm produced between 450 and 520 GWh between 2010 and 2012, with a capacity factor or 31-35% (2011/12).[19]

In Sep. 2011 Marubeni Corporation acquired a 49.9% shareholding of the project for £200 million.[20] In 2013 Marubeni divested part of its stake to the Development Bank of Japan.[21]

During the St Jude storm of October 2013, wind speeds of 65 metres per second (150 mph) were measured at the wind farm.[22]

Gunfleet Sands 3

Two Siemens 6 MW gearless wind turbines have been commissioned at Gunfleet, and are called Gunfleet 3. They will be tested for three years, and DONG hopes to reduce the cost of new offshore wind power to £100/MWh by 2020.[23][24][25][26]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Hjelmsted 2008, p. 6.
  2. ^ About Gunfleet Sands (Dong) Offshore substation
  3. ^ Schoon, Nicholas (12 February 1997), "Giant turbines star in end of the pier show at Clacton", www.independent.co.uk
  4. ^ "Wind Energy Power Plants in the UK - offshore", The Power Plants Around the World Photo Gallery (www.industcards.com), Gunfleet Sands, retrieved April 2014 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  5. ^ "Essex sand bank is site for wind farm", eadt.co.uk, 23 October 2003
  6. ^ The Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm Order 2004 (Statutory Instrument), 2004 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ Gunfleet Sands 2 – Project Briefing Note Number 1 (PDF), Dong Energy, 18 June 2006
  8. ^ "DONG Energy expands its UK offshore wind portfolio", www.dongenergy.com, 18 Dec. 2006 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "DONG Energy signs contract for delivery of wind turbines for Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm", www.dongenergy.com, 19 April 2007
  10. ^ a b Gunfleet Sands – Project Briefing Note Number 2 (PDF), Dong Energy, 11 feb. 2008 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ {{citation\ url=http://www.dongenergy.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/NEW%20Corporate/Gunfleet/News_and_events/PDF/Gunfleet_Sands-Project_Briefing_Note_Number_3.pdf%7C title = Gunfleet Sands – Project Briefing Note Number 3|date = 30 April 2008|publisher = Dong Energy}}
  12. ^ "First Round 2-turbine installed at DONG Energy's Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm project", www.dongenergy.co.uk, 1 April 2009
  13. ^ Dwan, James. "Gunfleet Sands wind farm firm goes under".
  14. ^ "First power from the first Round 2 offshore wind farm — DONG Energy's Gunfleet Sands project", www.dongenergy.co.uk, 20 Aug. 2009 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Holm, Erik (15 June 2010), "Briterne runder 1 GW vindkraft", ing.dk (in Danish)
  16. ^ Holm, Erik (16 June 2010), "Massiv udbygning skal gøre Storbritannien førende inden for havvind", ing.dk (in Danish)
  17. ^ Brading, Wendy (17 January 2009), "Brightlingsea: Wind farm construction bringing money into town", www.essexcountystandard.co.uk
  18. ^ About Gunfleet Sands (Dong) Operation and maintenance
  19. ^ Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm (LORC) Production & Peformance
  20. ^ "Marubeni Corporation to become co-owner of Gunfleet Sands offshore wind farm", www.dongenergy.com (Press release)
  21. ^ "Marubeni Corporation to Divest Part of Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm Shares", www.marubeni.com, 27 Dec. 2013 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ Holm, Erik; Wittrup, Sanne (29 October 2013), "Tre havvindparker koblede ud under stormen", ing.dk (in Danish)
  23. ^ "Siemens to supply 300 offshore wind turbines to DONG Energy" PennEnergy, 19 July 2012. Retrieved: 20 July 2012.
  24. ^ "Siemens 6MW turbines produce power in UK waters" WindPower Monthly 19 April 2013. Retrieved: 24 April 1913.
  25. ^ Ben Miller. "Gunfleet Sands III officially opened" Windpower Offshore, 12 September 2013. Accessed: 26 September 2013.
  26. ^ Jessica Shankleman. "DONG Energy hails world's first Siemens 6MW offshore wind turbines" BusinessGreen, 12 September 2013. Accessed: 26 September 2013.

Sources

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