Press Releases
26 April 2005
North West offshore wind farm work launched
Work on North West England's first offshore wind farm is gathering pace with the arrival in the region of the first major piece of equipment. Part of the offshore electricity substation for the 30-turbine wind farm is being brought to the dockside in Barrow by barge from Belgium.
A massive 1,000 tonne mobile crawler crane will then hoist the substation topside platform, which weighs 120 tonnes, onto the quay at Ramsden Dock where it will stay while it is fitted out with electrical components by a 20-strong team from Barrow firm Agrilek.
The topside will remain in Barrow until it is carried to its installation site in the east Irish Sea some 7 kilometres off Walney Island in the summer. By then its full weight will be 480 tonnes and it will be the first offshore substation in the UK.
The 90MW Barrow Offshore Wind (BOW) project is a joint venture between British Gas parent company Centrica and Danish energy company DONG and will provide clean green electricity to around 65,000 British Gas customers across the north west by the end of this year.
Some preparatory work has already taken place onshore to enable the power generated by the wind farm to be fed into the national grid but the arrival of the substation topside heralds the start of work offshore.
The installation of the foundations for the turbines is expected to start next month with the turbines themselves installed during late summer.
The North West (East Irish Sea) is one of only three areas designated by the UK government for offshore wind developments - the others being the Greater Wash and the Thames Estuary.
Centrica project manager John Freeland said: "As well as being incredibly exciting, this is a key moment for the North West's first offshore wind farm project as it marks the start of offshore work which will lead to thousands of British Gas customers benefiting from clean green energy from this project by the end of 2005. I am very pleased that the major critical component of this wind farm is being fitted out in Barrow, providing work for the local workforce."
Enquiries
Centrica Media Relations
01753 494085
