East Anglia ONE is a £2.5 billion offshore windfarm located in the southern North Sea, approximately 45 kilometers off southeast of the town of Lowestoft. It will generate 714 MW of electricity when completed in 2020, enough to power 500,000 homes per year.
The three-legged steel jacket structures that support the wind turbines stand over 65 metres tall and weigh more than 845 tonnes.
The project will be the most cost efficient offshore windfarm ever to confirm construction, and is leading the way to meet the UK Government’s cost reduction targets. The price of £119 MWh was secured after a competitive auction process run by the Government, and is more than 15% lower than other offshore wind projects in construction elsewhere in the UK.
Yarmouth-based Seajacks will use its state-of-the-art vessel Scylla as the main installation vessel which will work on the project for at least six months, starting in April 2018. Scylla is the world’s largest and most advanced installation vessel employed in offshore wind. It has 105 metre legs and is capable of working in water depths of up to 65 metres. It can provide 5000 square metres of deck space and a load capacity of just under 9000 tonnes. Scylla will work in tandem with Van Oord’s Svanen vessel, which recently installed the monopiles and transition pieces for the Burbo Bank Extension project.
The project will employ 140 people from Seajacks while also creating up to 75 new jobs and 5 apprenticeship roles for the company.
“Seajacks are a world-leading offshore installation company who are based in East Anglia, so we are especially pleased that we were able to secure their services for our project” said Jonathan Cole, Managing Director of Offshore Wind at ScottishPower Renewables. “The additional jobs and training opportunities that this contract will create locally is important for our project. East Anglia ONE continues to make excellent progress. We are now starting preparations for the onshore work, as well as ensuring all of the plans are in place for the offshore work. The project will be the best value offshore windfarm ever constructed, at the same time as delivering industry-leading levels of UK content. We are proud that the project is encouraging investment and supporting highly skilled jobs in Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Hull and Belfast.”
Image: West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm
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