Offshore installation of the next wind farm to be anchored in Grimsby is about to start.
The vessel fleet and crews chartered and contracted by Innogy to build the 857MW Triton Knoll arrays off the Lincolnshire coast have begun to mobilise, and will look to install the first foundations as soon as the weather conditions are favourable.
It will become Innogy’s most powerful wind farm in the portfolio, with one of the first deployments of MHI Vestas’ pioneering 9.5MW turbine.
During 2020, the project team will aim to install all 90 bespoke monopile foundations and the transition pieces that sit atop, along with two high-tech offshore substation platforms and their foundations, as well as more than 600 kilometres of sub-sea export and array cables.
Designed by 海角视频 engineering firm Atkins, each foundation has an average weight of 600 tonnes and length of 54m, making them longer than an Airbus A380 and similar in width to the aircraft’s cabin.
Advances made on behalf of lead contractor 3SF – a Smulders Sif joint venture – have saved the equivalent steel used in more than three Eiffel Towers, while preserving the strength of the assets. They will be ferried out from Maasvlakte, Rotterdam, direct to site.
Julian Garnsey, project director for Triton Knoll at Innogy, said: “We are looking forward to a busy year installing Triton Knoll’s innovative foundations and offshore substation platforms, further demonstrating Innogy’s continued commitment towards ever more sustainable electricity generation for consumers.”
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Located more than 32 kilometres off the Lincolnshire coast, with a turbine array that covers an area of 145 sq km, it has a footprint greater than the City of Manchester.
A fleet of vessels, many operating out of Grimsby’s Royal Dock, will support the construction. The offshore fleet will be dominated by the 183 metre long installation vessel Seaway Strashnov, as well as the high-tech service operation vessel Esvagt Froude. She is no stranger to Grimsby, having been chartered by Orsted, then Dong Energy, to support the build out of Westermost Rough in 2015.
Within the month, the 83 metre long SOV will first visit Triton Knoll’s newly constructed Grimsby port facilities, where all offshore construction activity and longer-term operations and maintenance will be coordinated. The SOV supports the project’s specialist construction team and will regularly enter the port to change crews and re-stock supplies.
Construction of a multi-million pound turbine pre-assembly base at Teesside’s Able Seaton Port is also about to get underway, equipping the port for the first time to be able to host the assembly and installation of turbines, with first components due to arrive later this year.
Onshore, significant progress was made during 2019 to construct the project’s onshore electrical system, which consists of a 57km underground onshore export cable, a new landfall connection and purpose-built Triton Knoll Onshore Substation.
Construction is due to finish in 2020 and will ensure the project is all set to transmit power, via the offshore substation platforms which were mechanically completed in 2019, into the national grid network and ultimately more than 800,000 海角视频 homes.
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Next year the focus of construction will shift to the installation and energisation of the powerful 9.5MW turbines, with Triton Knoll anticipating the first electricity to flow from the wind farm into the 海角视频 National Grid later that year.
The first Seacat vessel arrives in Grimsby this winter and will be joined by its sister vessel in the spring. Both vessels will support the movement of personnel throughout the construction work and will eventually be available 24/7 as required by the project.
One of the first jobs is to transfer teams from the East Yorkshire-based Specialist Marine Consultants Ltd to site. SMC’s role is to inspect and maintain the newly installed offshore assets.
Offshore array and export cable installations are scheduled to begin later in 2020, following the planned completion of seabed clearance and preparation works by James Fisher Marine Services.
Regional operators Precision Marine Survey Ltd and Carlbom Shipping Ltd, will also play key roles in supporting the offshore activities.
Triton Knoll will be the seventh offshore wind farm to be controlled from Grimsby, the world-leading centre for operations and maintenance in the sector. It is part of a 10GW pipeline, with Orsted's 1.4 GW Hornsea Two offshore wind farm also entering offshore construction in 2020 as new record-breaker Hornsea One is commissioned.
Innovate 海角视频's Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult is also to establish a centre of excellence in the town.