RWE Innogy UK has completed the installation of all 160 foundations at the Gwynt y Mor offshore wind farm.
Friedrich Ernestine, a jack up installation vessel built and operated by RWE Innogy’s subsidiary RWE OLC, has installed the final transition piece at Gwynt y Mor on 23 April 2014. With this installation, the vessel has now completed its scope of work at the wind farm.
A greater than £2bn offshore wind farm, Gwynt y Mor is scheduled to complete in 2014. The project will be capable of generating enough energy to power the equivalent of approximately 400,000 homes.
RWE Innogy UK Gwynt y Mor project director Toby Edmonds said that this is a tremendous milestone for the project.
"Foundations consist of a monopile and a transition piece and the first of these was installed on 8th August 2012, using the heavy lift vessel, Stanislav Yudin.
"Since then a number of other vessels, including the Friedrich Ernestine, have joined the project to carry out foundation installation activity which is always a technically challenging part of the construction process.
"With this achievement behind us we can focus on installing the final 19 turbines, commissioning the entire array and bringing on line a highly capable renewable energy source, powered from the UK’s own freely available natural resources and able to support approximately 400,000 homes," Edmonds added.
Friedrich Ernestine has been fitted with reverse circulation pile top drill for its scope of work at Gwynt y Mor. LDD designed and built the LDD500 in the UK.
Until now, construction of Gwynt y Mor has enabled the injection of more than £350m into the UK supply chain, created and secured employment for over 2,500 people in the UK.
The construction is also expected to sustain over 100 jobs long term through a new multi-million pound operations and maintenance base, which is being built at the Port of Mostyn in North Wales.
Image: Friedrich Ernestine completes first commission at Gwynt y Mor offshore wind farm. Photo: Courtesy of RWE Innogy UK