Siemens Gamesa has produced the first 108 metre-long wind turbine blades at its factory in Hull for the 880MW Moray West offshore wind farm, off the northeast coast of Scotland.
In total, 180 blades for the project’s 60 turbines will be manufactured in Hull, following the completion of a huge expansion to the plant, which enables it to make larger blades, such as the new 108-metre-long blades.
Moray West developer Ocean Winds made funding commitments to Siemens Gamesa to enable the expanded facility at Hull to be ready to manufacture the new blades to meet the exacting project programme.
The blades will be the longest being utilised in a UK offshore wind farm, Siemens Gamesa said.
The team from Ocean Winds and Exchequer Secretary to the UK Treasury Gareth Davies, were present to see the first blades roll off the production line.
Construction of Moray West is already underway.
The turbines will start being installed during 2024, with the wind farm due to be completed in 2025.
Recently Siemens Energy and Smulders Projects UK, successfully loaded out the last of the project’s offshore transformer modules, which will collect power from Moray West’s 60 wind turbines.
Ocean Winds UK country manager Adam Morrison said: “This is a fantastic milestone in our close working with Siemens Gamesa on our journey to commission these huge next-generation wind turbines.
“With each blade slightly longer than an international football pitch the scale of the engineering is impressive.
“We now look forward to ensuring the same high quality and high safety standards are achieved across all the wind turbine components prior to marshalling and pre-assembly in the north of Scotland, ready for installation of this class leading technology in 2024.
“The Moray West project is delighted to support the new investment at the Hull facility by Siemens Gamesa.”
Siemens Gamesa UK managing director Clark MacFarlane added: “This is another significant milestone not just for the team in Hull, the Moray West Project, but also the wider UK renewables industry.
“The growth in offshore wind turbine technology is only possible due to our people and their amazing efforts to keep delivering the solutions to our current and future energy needs.”