Siemens Hull factory is shipping its first wind turbine blades to Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm that is situated 16.8 miles off the North Norfolk coast.
The Siemens blade factory, inaugurated in December 2016, have loaded the turbine blades onto the Sea Installer vessel, to transport them from the Port of Hull to the Race Bank wind farm for installation.
Dong stated that the installation of blades and other components in Race Bank are on schedule with 25 turbines installed, and the farm will start its operations in 2018.
DONG Energy UK managing director Matthew Wright said: “To see the first blades made in Hull now loaded out and ready for installation at our project really underlines the strength of the U.K. supply chain to support the growth of offshore wind in this country.
“When complete, Race Bank will be capable of powering over half a million homes with green energy and this is another major success story for offshore wind, bringing jobs and investment across the North of the U.K..”
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy UK managing director Clark MacFarlane said: “This first load out represents a significant milestone in the story of how, in just a few years, we have helped increase the UK economic benefit of lower cost Offshore Wind and help make the Humber region a hub for low-cost, green energy expertise.”
The Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm is owned by DONG Energy, Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5, Macquarie Capital and Sumitomo Corporation.
The wind facility consists of 91 Siemens 6MW turbines and occupies an area of 75km2.
With a total capacity of 573MW, the wind farm is expected to produce enough electricity to power over half a million UK homes annually.