Siemens Gamesa has finished installing the turbines at ScottishPower Renewables and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group’s 714MW East Anglia 1 offshore wind project.
The contractor carried out the work using the Sea Installer and Sea Challenger vessels, operated by DEME.
Work on installing the project’s 102 SWT-7.0-154 turbines began in June 2019, 43km off England’s Suffolk coast.
All turbine components were pre-assembled and loaded out from Peel Ports Great Yarmouth, following ScottishPower Renewables’ co-investment in the port to prepare it for construction and marshalling activity.
The components consist of 75-metre fibre glass blades, tower sections and nacelles, which have been on view along the Great Yarmouth seafront and skyline as the 90-metre-high towers were constructed on the quayside.
Siemens Gamesa produced the 306 turbine blades at its factory in Hull.
CSWind UK made some of the towers in its facility in Machrihanish, Scotland.
Several local companies supported the work that took place at Peel Ports, including Lowestoft-based Delpro Wind and CLS Global Solutions, based in Great Yarmouth.
During the project ScottishPower Renewables marked a milestone of 1000MW of installed offshore wind capacity and Siemens Gamesa installed its thousandth direct drive offshore wind turbine.
ScottishPower Renewables East Anglia 1 project director Charlie Jordan said: “Successful installation of all the turbines is a tremendous achievement for the East Anglia 1 project.
“This project is testament to the leading role East Anglia is playing in offshore wind and is delivering tangible benefits for its people, businesses and communities – including the creation of more than 800 jobs and spending over £70m with companies across the region.
“With COVID-19 bringing much of the economy to a standstill and affecting everyone across the UK, ensuring we have a safe and secure supply of energy is critical to supporting our vital services.
“This is why the continuation of this project is deemed as essential work by the Government and ourselves. The full range of people and organisations involved deserve huge credit for the work they have put into making sure it remained on track through such challenging conditions – they are a credit to the industry.”
Siemens Gamesa East Anglia 1 senior project director Andrew Elmes added: “We are proud to be working alongside the entire team to safely manufacture, install, and commission the turbines for East Anglia ONE.
“It’s been a long, challenging journey so far, with new technology, significant weather conditions, and now COVID-19 to overcome. All these factors make this milestone even more fantastic.”