British and Danish energy groups Centrica and DONG Energy have developed a 90 MW wind farm in the East Irish Sea approximately 7km south west of Walney Island, near Barrow-in-Furness. The project is called Barrow Offshore Wind (BOW).

The wind farm comprises 30 modern, efficient, wind turbines, each capable of producing 3MW of electricity, delivering power to the existing grid system at Heysham via buried subsea and onshore cables.

Anticipated annual production will be 305 GWh, which is capable of supplying around 65,000 homes. This figure is based on average wind availability and efficiency ratings of the wind turbines.

Consent granted

Initial plans for BOW were promoted by Warwick Energy Limited and full consent was granted for the development in 2003, prior to BOW's acquisition by Centrica and DONG.

In July 2004, a consortium comprising Vestas-Celtic Wind Technology Ltd and Kellogg Brown & Root Ltd was awarded an Engineering, Procurement, Installation and Commissioning contract for construction of the wind farm. Vestas-KBR are contracted to operate and maintain the wind farm for an initial period of five years.

Offshore substation

BOW's rectangular site covers an area of approximately ten square kilometres around 7km from Walney Island and the farm has its own offshore substation. It consists of a total of 30 turbines in four rows, two with seven turbines and two with eight. The turbines arespaced 500 metres apart. The rows are spaced 750 metres apart.

Centrica's subsidiary British Gas will take all of the electricity produced by the wind farm under a long-term power purchase agreement. British Gas is the UK's biggest household electricity supplier with around 6 million customers.

During the construction period Centrica and DONG kept local people informed about the development plans and timescales through media announcements and exhibitions.

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