Turbine Installation Complete

The London Array offshore wind farm completed its turbine installation campaign in December 2012, marking a key construction milestone for what Masdar describes as one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world. According to Masdar’s project overview, construction activity for the project began onshore in 2009 and moved offshore in 2011, building towards an installed fleet of 175 wind turbines in the Thames Estuary. The same source notes that the facility first exported power to the grid in October 2012, demonstrating that at least part of the array had been successfully installed, connected and energised ahead of full build-out. The statement that “the final turbine [was] installed that December” indicates that all 175 turbines were mechanically and structurally in place by the end of December 2012, effectively completing the turbine installation phase of construction. This completion consolidated the project’s 630 MW of installed capacity, setting the foundation for subsequent commissioning and operational ramp-up activities. With turbine installation finished, attention could shift fully to testing, optimisation and long-term operations from the project’s dedicated operations and maintenance base at the Port of Ramsgate. The completion of turbine installation in December 2012 was therefore a critical step in enabling the project to progress towards its official opening in the summer of 2013 and begin delivering low-carbon electricity to more than half a million UK homes while avoiding almost 1 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually.