UK: Final Turbine Installed at Lincs Offshore Wind Farm

The team behind the Lincs Offshore Wind Farm are celebrating the successful installation of the project’s final turbine.

The 75th turbine was lifted into place on Sunday 31st March and marks a major milestone in the development of the 270MW project, which will be capable of producing enough energy to meet the annual power needs of more than 200,000 households – equivalent to two thirds of the homes in Lincolnshire.

Lincs Project Director Patrick Harnett said: “We’re delighted to have reached this important milestone, which comes as a result of a lot of hard work on all sides.

“Moving forward we’ll be focusing on the commissioning of each of the Siemens 3.6MW turbines, getting the wind farm up to full strength and, most importantly, delivering much needed power for the UK’s homes and businesses.”

The wind farm is located 8 kilometres (5 miles) off the coast of Skegness and is being built out of Esbjerg in Denmark. Commissioning will be managed in the UK from Grimsby and Sutton Bridge near King’s Lynn.

Once complete, Lincs will be managed from Centrica’s new operations and maintenance base in Grimsby, which was opened last year as a major new hub for the business. The base includes the Siemens service team and will function as a shared resource for the Lincs, Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farms. Siemens also provides grid connections to the Lincs wind farm.

Construction of the project started in 2010 with full commissioning expected later this year.

Lincs is a joint venture between leading UK energy company Centrica Energy, DONG Energy and Siemens Project Ventures.