Covering an estimated are of 100km2 it is the largest offshore wind farm in operation. The project first phase was completed in 2012. I will look into the design, construction process and players of the first phase of this mega project.
Design
The first phase design included the following;
630MW Phase 1 target
Approval for commencement of the project by consortium partners investing 2.2 billion dollars
175 SWP 120m turbines meant to send power to two substations and another new one in Cleve Hill (Mathlin, 6).
2 33kV/150kV offshore substations
200km 33kV inter array cables
1 O"M base
1 Onshore 150kV/400kV substation
The major contract suppliers in the project included;
Ø JRD Cable Systems responsible for the supply of the 210km of 33kV array cables.
Ø Visser and Smit Marine Contracting and Global Marine Systems Limited responsible for the installation of array cables as well as export (Mathlin, 8).
Ø Siemens Transmission and Distribution Limited was awarded the contract for setting up the onshore substation
Ø MPI Adventure and A2 SEA’s sea worker were the two vessels selected as offshore installation vessels (Mathlin, 6).
Ø O"M Base Design and Construction allocated to BBLB Architects to oversee the design.
Ø DET Norske Veritas responsible for the design of these structures by having conical connections within the grouted area to compensate on the forces acting upon the structure in operation (Bayar, “The London Array turns two”).
Construction Process
The Clive Hill Onshore Construction took the following steps;
The National Grid onsite on February 2010
125MW grid connection on October 2011
630MW grid connection on April 2012
Benefits package for the surrounding community in Graveney to a tune of 850,000 pounds (Mathlin, 10)
Above is an image of Clive Hill, September 2009. (London Array Off-Shore Wind Farm)
Image of site with the North Wall almost complete, December 2010
Construction Management Base
Involved the construction of the following:
ü A 650m2 port-a-cabin workplace
ü Approximately 55 individuals working in the place on health and safety, installations, and marine work
ü Main suppliers to set up operations in Ramsgate (Mathlin, 17)
Construction and Operations Base
o Construction of a temporary base at Ramsgate finished on October 2010
o A purpose-built headquarters for Operations and Maintenance completed in 2011
o The upgrading and purchase of a new pontoon and fuel pumping resources
o 6 services vessels able to reach the wind farm in an hour
o 90 full time staff to operate the site in the UK once operational.
Below are images of the Operational Base Design
(London Array Off-Shore Wind Farm)
Onshore Construction Community Involvement
A freephone helpline for the community
A monthly liaison committee
Provision of regular updates
Parish magazines updates
A visit onsite by Parish council and the local liaison committee which happened in December 2009, as seen below
(London Array Off-Shore Wind Farm)
London Array in the Community
I. The construction of a school car park in September 2009
II. Offering of university bursary scheme in 2010
III. 300,000 pounds donated to the Gaveney Parish for local community projects
IV. Three local schools were awarded 2,000 pounds per annum for ten years
V. Site visits for local children arranged.
Offshore Construction
1. March 2011- The first foundation installed
2. SVANEN foundation installed
3. Substation two installation commenced on 9th July 2011 and was finished on 10th
July 2011
4. Array Cable installation involving cables being loose let and buried 1.5 feet under the sea bed
5. Export cables buried at approximately 2.0 m below sea bed
Workers on Turbines
Technicians work 12 hour shifts to effectively work on the turbines. At the peak of construction, there were 1000 workers onsite working on 60 vessels. Boat skippers, normally 5 to 6 in the field at a time, are expected to ship 12 workers to the turbines while dropping them in groups of two or three per turbine. Additionally, Offshore Coordinates have computers to monitor the location of each worker. Also, service teams stay in one location the whole day and regular inspection of 20 turbine foundations is done daily (Bayar, “The London Array turns two”.
Above is a photo of Substation 2 installed. Below is one of substation 1.
(London Array Off-Shore Wind Farm)
Works Cited
Bayar, Tildy. The London Array Turns Two. Power Engineering International, 19 Aug. 2015,
http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-8/features/the-london-array-turns-two.html. Accessed 15th Feb. 2018.
Mathlin, Jamie. London Array Off-Shore Wind Farm. London Array, 29 July 2009,
http://blmwyomingvisual.anl.gov/docs/IvanpahVisibilityReport_Final.pdf.
Accessed 15th Feb. 2018.
