Grimsby’s latest offshore wind farm, Triton Knoll, has been fully commissioned.
The £2 billion development, 32km off the Lincolnshire coast, features the biggest turbines ever deployed in the North Sea.
It has been delivered on time, successfully overcoming the challenges posed by a global pandemic.
Read more: Major Humber port expansion proposal unveiled by ABP
With a capacity of 857MW it will meet the electricity demand of around 800,000 homes a year. And it comes as offshore wind farms due to the price of energy topping the strike price agreed as part of the two-way mechanism. Triton Knoll and Hornsea One are understood to be among the first.
Julian Garnsey, Triton Knoll project director for major shareholder and operator RWE, said: “I am very proud of the Triton Knoll team’s achievement in completing the commissioning of the turbines on this nationally significant infrastructure project.
"The construction team has shown a huge amount of resilience in reaching this milestone. I want to thank our supply chain partners and all those that have worked so hard on our sites to keep the project on track, despite the many challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.”
The 164m tall Vestas 9.5MW turbines were installed between January and September last year across a 145 sq km zone. Installation vessels sailed from the assembly port of Seaton.
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During the build a new operations and maintenance base has been opened on the quayside of Grimsby’s Royal Dock. The larger , with an expansion proposed.
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The 1.4GW project will sit 120 miles off the North Yorkshire coast, with work on the port site to start imminently. A huge power procurement deal was signed late last year.
RWE has a 59 per cent stake in Triton Knoll, with J-Power holding 25 per cent and Kansai Electric Power the remaining 16 per cent.
Each individual turbine rotation can power a typical home for up to 29 hours. It has a power purchase agreement with neighbouring offshore wind developer Orsted, with electricity connecting to the grid near Boston.
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