First Power

On Tuesday 28 January 2014, the West of Duddon Sands Offshore Wind Farm achieved first power when blades on the first four of 108 Siemens 3.6 MW turbines began turning and electricity was exported to the National Grid. The 389 MW project is a 50:50 joint venture between ScottishPower Renewables (Iberdrola) and DONG Energy (now Ørsted) and was Iberdrola's first offshore wind farm. Located approximately 14 km south-west of Walney Island off the Cumbrian coast in the East Irish Sea, the wind farm covers 67 km² and connects to the UK grid via two export cables to an onshore substation at Heysham. By the time of first power, engineers had installed 42 of the 108 turbines and commissioning was underway; site construction had been underway for two years including installation of more than 200 km of cables and 108 monopile foundations. Components were stored at the £50 million purpose-built offshore wind installation and pre-assembly terminal at Belfast Harbour — the first such facility in the UK and Ireland. Installation was carried out by the Pacific Orca and Sea Installer jack-up vessels working in tandem. Benj Sykes, UK Country Manager at DONG Energy, called first power "a significant point to reach on a project, and an ideal beginning to an exciting year for West of Duddon Sands." Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables, called it "a significant milestone." The final turbine was installed in June 2014 and the wind farm was officially inaugurated by Ed Davey on 30 October 2014.