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Offshore Wind: Case Studies
Blyth Offshore Wind Farm
The UK’s first offshore wind farm, commissioned in December 2000, is situated off the Northumberland coast. It has a capacity of 4 megawatts, two 91-metre-high turbines and a predicted annual energy output of 10,500 megawatt hours. It is predicted that the reductions in annual emissions will be 9,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, 100 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, and 30 tonnes of oxides of nitrogen (NOx). It is predicted that 5,800 people or 2,400 households will be supplied from this wind farm.
In order to ensure that there would be no detrimental effects to the environment, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was prepared and submitted with various consent applications.
Site surveys were carried out to confirm the seabed conditions. Boreholes were drilled at the proposed locations of both turbines. This confirmed that there were different ground conditions at each location, even though the turbines are only 200 metres apart, and this information was provided to the engineers to aid in the design of the foundations.
The turbine manufacturer took responsibility for the design of the tower and foundation, with the installation contractor taking responsibility for the manufacture and installation of piles, access platforms and the wind turbines. The turbine contractor was responsible for the commissioning of the wind farm.
The total project cost was approximately £4 million. The project has an NFFO4 contract to purchase electricity generated by the first 2-megawatt turbine, and the electricity generated by the second 2-megawatt turbine is sold via tradable green labels. The project has received the support of the European Commission Thermie Programme.