North Hoyle offshore wind farm
Irish Sea, off the North Wales coast, UK · 2003 (constructed April-November 2003) · N/A (specific value not readily available)
The judgement call
Account-gated at launchIts successful completion marked a significant milestone for the UK's renewable energy sector, proving the viability of large-scale offshore wind. - The project provided valuable lessons for subsequent offshore wind developments in terms of design, build, and operational challenges.
Key engineering challenges
Being the UK's first major offshore wind farm, it involved pioneering design and construction techniques for offshore wind. - Installation of turbines and associated infrastructure in an offshore environment, requiring new methodologies. - Overcoming challenges related to the functionality of equipment in offshore conditions (e.g., VHF Direction Finding equipment).
Project facts
- Client / owner
- RWE (formerly npower renewables)
- Lead contractor
- N/A
- Lead designers
- N/A
- Project type
- new build
- Scale
- 60 MW capacity; 30 Vestas V80/2MW turbines; covers 10 km2
- Disciplines
- civil; structural; mechanical; electrical; marine; geotechnical
- Standards & frameworks
- N/A
Sources: Emerald Publishing: https://www.emerald.com/jener/article-pdf/160/1/21/2464743/ener_2007_160_1_21.pdf - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hoyle_Offshore_Wind_Farm - The Windpower: https://www.thewindpower.net/windfarm_en_7391_north-hoyle.php