Construction work at Rampion offshore wind farm situated off the coast of south England, has entered into the final phase with the installation of the first of 116 wind turbines.
For the installation each tower with a length of 80 metres, weighing approximately 200 tonnes, is positioned and bolted onto each turbine foundation.
Next the nacelle, which houses the generator and gearbox, is fitted onto the tower, and finally the three blades, each measuring 55m in length, are hoisted and connected one at a time.
During spring, offshore cabling work will continue. Onshore construction of the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) base at Newhaven Port will commence in March.
The operations and maintenance base will include offices and warehousing and will employ up to 60 full time, permanent staff and store spare parts and tools to support the maintenance of the turbines.
The 400MW project being built by E.ON, the UK Green Investment Bank plc and Canadian energy company Enbridge, will, when complete provide enough electricity to supply almost 347,000 homes a year, equivalent to around half the homes in Sussex. The project is due to be completed and fully operational in 2018.