Spanish winds for British energy

Takes up twice the surface of the city of Bilbao

(ecofriend.com)

WEST OF DUDDON SANDS (UK) -- Spanish energy giant Iberdrola put the company's offshore wind farm at West of Duddon Sands into operation on October 30. Iberdrola Renovables bought control of ScottishPower Renewables back in 2011 in the largest purchase in the company's history. According to the Iberdrola Renovables website, "Located approximately 20km off the Barrow-in-Furness coastline in North West England, the wind farm covers a total area of 67km², has 108 Siemens turbines with 3.6MW unit capacity and has also seen more than 200 km of undersea cables installed. With an investment of €2 billion, this offshore wind facility developed by Iberdrola, through its subsidiary ScottishPower Renewables, in a joint-venture with Dong Energy was commissioned more than two months ahead of schedule."

During the inauguration ceremony, Ignacio Galán, Chairman of Iberdrola, highlighted that this infrastructure “has been a significant engineering challenge, with many obstacles to overcome, but ultimately it has been a major success. It has tested the UK’s ability to deliver major renewable energy projects, in terms of workforce skills, supply chain depth, facilities and logistics. 

“West of Duddon Sands is the first offshore wind farm in the UK to use such highly advanced construction methods. Working in tandem with two highly sophisticated installation vessels, all supported by the excellent facilities at Belfast, has seen one of the most efficient offshore projects ever delivered in the UK. In the past, the type of storm force winds that we experienced off the west coast of the UK last winter would have resulted in months of delays and cancelled operations."

The Chairman of Iberdrola thanked “all of the 1,000 people who have worked so hard to deliver the project, from electrical engineers to construction technicians to marine biologists. Delivering all of the different elements effectively on a project as large as this is the biggest challenge, and we were extremely pleased with the team work and co-ordination which allowed us to complete this windfarm ahead of schedule.”

Alvaro Martínez Palacio, 41, Director of Iberdrola's Marine Operations, said that with 4,000 hours of wind in the area, the farm will generate enough energy to supply 280,000 British homes.

If things appear smaller in a seascape, here we have 108 giants, each the height of the KIO Towers in Madrid and 120m diameter arms. The perspective seems to draw them together, but in fact they're separated by the length of seven football fields, occupying twice the surface of Bilbao.