EDF Energy Renewables confirmed that it installed the first 2.3MW wind turbine at its 62MW wind farm.
Some people may wonder why wind farms are installed offshore, as offshore wind electricity is more expensive than onshore wind power.
One reason to continue to pursue offshore wind is that technologies usually start out expensive and have to be tried and tested in order to improve, and the other is that offshore wind farms provide the largest and most stable source of electricity due to the fact that offshore winds tend to be stronger and more consistent.
The offshore wind industry is still very young, yet they have already learned important lessons about offshore wind, which prompted improvements such as the switch to gearless wind turbines to reduce maintenance costs.
Execution by far is the most revealing of a concept’s flaws, that is why pilot projects are required for every industry, as well as large projects which can actually yield different test results and may have different problems from small pilot projects.
In other words, you cannot be entirely sure about something until you do the real thing, and in some cases, full-scale.
This 27 turbine wind farm is EDF Energy Renewable’s first UK offshore wind project. It will be located 1.5 km off the North east coast at Redcar.
This wind farm is one of a wave of offshore wind projects that earned the UK the position of the leading offshore wind market. There are some enormous projects planned.
Completion of this wind farm is expected by spring, provided that the weather cooperates.
“The installation of the first offshore turbine on our first offshore scheme is a landmark event for the company, supporting the expansion of our onshore wind farm capacity over recent years,” said Christian Egal, chief executive of EDF Energy Renewables.
Source: businessGreen
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