The 714MW East Anglia 1 offshore wind farm, off England’s east coast, has completed construction with all 102 turbines now fully operational.
Around 20% of the turbine installation and around half the turbine connection work was completed during lockdown.
ScottishPower Renewables and its project partners had to adapt how they worked to complete construction.
Changes included switching to a higher number of smaller vessels, creating crew ‘households’ who lived and worked together at all times, as well as introducing new welfare protocols and minimising crew changes.
East Anglia 1, located 43km from the Suffolk coast, will contribute to the UK’s target of meeting net zero by 2050.
Almost 3500 jobs were sustained during the construction phase, which began in 2017, while 100 long-term skilled jobs have been created at the operations and maintenance base in Lowestoft.
ScottishPower Renewables co-invested £5m (€5.4m) in Peel Ports Great Yarmouth to prepare it for construction and marshalling activity.
Over the course of the project, more than half of the project’s supply chain has come from the UK market, exceeding the commitments made as part of the wind farm’s successful bid for Contract for Difference funding.
Other activities by ScottishPower Renewables in relation to the project include sponsorship of 10 engineering masters at the University of East Anglia and establishing an apprenticeship programme.
The two new apprentices will be based at East Anglia ONE’s state-of-the-art new operations and maintenance building at Hamilton Dock, Lowestoft, part of a £25m investment made by ScottishPower Renewables into the port.
By 2030 the developer aims to deploy 3000 new apprentices across the industry by 2030.
East Anglia 1 project director Charlie Jordan said: “The final commissioning of East Anglia 1 is an incredible milestone for us and our project partners, as well as our wider stakeholders, the East Anglian region and the whole of the UK.
“And it comes at a crucial time as the UK takes it first steps towards a green economic recovery.
“Reaching this point was always going to be an extremely important moment for us – heralding the start of full production of green energy from a major site that will play a real part in the UK’s path to net zero.
“What has made it even more incredible is the determination and tenacity of our team, who have worked tirelessly to deliver this significant technical project amidst an unprecedented pandemic, which none of us could have planned for.”
Siemens Gamesa East Anglia 1 senior project manager Andrew Elmes added: “The team reacted superbly to the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing East Anglia ONE from being derailed by the unprecedented situation.
“Safety issues to be managed in a critical period included: complete vessel, accommodation, and crew reorganisations; quarantine events, social distancing, suspect cases and testing onsite.
“We are extremely proud to have done so while achieving several key customer – and Siemens Gamesa – business milestones, despite the uncertainty.
“We’ve now commissioned the entire offshore wind power project, making real our commitment to providing clean energy for generations to come.”
East Anglia ONE, a joint venture between ScottishPower Renewables and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG), is valued at £2.5bn.
It is the first of four offshore wind farms ScottishPower Renewables is developing in the region.