Eon will start work next month to decommission the 4MW Blyth offshore wind farm off Northumberland in England, the UK’s first offshore offshore wind development.
The decommissioning, first revealed in the subscriber-only newsletter reNEWS, will take between four and six weeks to remove the two Vestas V66-2MW turbines, the company said.
Eon said it expects to use local suppliers for as much of the decommissioning work as is possible, including waste disposal and crew transfer vessels.
One of the turbines will be recycled and reused for spare parts within Eon’s onshore fleet and the other is to be used by the Port of Blyth (pictured) for training purposes.
The Blyth project has been operational since 2001.
Eon offshore technical specialist Patrick Rainey said: “Blyth offshore wind farm holds a special significance for us all at Eon as our – and the UK’s – first offshore development.
“Through Blyth, we were able to demonstrate to the watching world that the technology worked, and we’ve been able to use our experience and learning to go on to develop a further 1.5GW of wind capacity off the UK coast.
“Wind farms typically have a lifespan of around 20-25 years, and so Blyth offshore wind farm has reached the end of its time. I think we can all be proud of the role it’s played in the renewable energy industry, and its legacy for the port and waters around Blyth.”