- Industry’s ground breaking 9.5 MW turbines unveiled at the heart of renewable energy powerhouse
- Strong UK footprint could support significant investment into home-grown businesses
Triton Knoll has today unveiled MHI Vestas Offshore Wind as its preferred turbine supplier and its plans to use 90 of its latest, ground-breaking 9.5 MW turbines to generate power for the east coast offshore wind farm.
Triton Knoll will be one of the first in the world to install and operate MHI Vestas’ very latest V164-9.5 MW turbines(1) described by the supplier as the most powerful and efficient on the market.
The news comes just one week after Triton Knoll was awarded a Contract for Difference(2) in the latest Government auction, which marked the innogy and Statkraft joint venture(3) as one of the UK’s best ‘low cost’ renewable energy projects.
While still at preferred supplier stage, the wind farm project will now work with MHI Vestas to maximise and build on the manufacturer’s already strong UK footprint, which includes an industrialisation plan which will safeguard or create 800 UK jobs and investments of over £200m.
Triton Knoll Project Director James Cotter said: “We achieved a successful result at the CfD auction, thanks to a business case that was designed through collaboration with the supply chain and which puts cost reduction, low cost generation and UK content at the forefront of our project.
“MHI Vestas is absolutely central to our business plan, which aims to deliver at least 50% UK content over the lifetime of the project, while creating significant value for the UK and energy consumers from the delivery of our wind farm. As one of the world’s leading wind turbine companies, we are delighted to have MHI Vestas on board and look forward to working with them to further maximise innovation and value in all aspects of the project.”
An integral part of MHI Vestas UK infrastructure is a state-of-the-art blade factory on the Isle of Wight which opened in 2011. The large-blade competence centre produces the turbine’s 80 metre blades for projects in the UK and throughout Northern Europe. The continued investment in the UK by the company is a significant factor in the selection of MHI Vestas as a preferred supplier to the project.
Triton Knoll is a circa 860MW (4) East coast offshore wind farm project, and expects to trigger a capital expenditure investment of around £2billion into much needed UK energy infrastructure. This will enable the delivery of some of the lowest cost energy generation for UK consumers.
The project is now progressing towards a financial investment decision likely in 2018 with full onshore construction starting shortly after, and offshore construction starting in 2020. First energy generation could be as early as mid-2021, with the project expecting to begin commissioning in 2021.
Regionally, preparations for Triton Knoll’s start of onshore work are well underway, and a full programme of onshore survey works is being completed, while some key early works are being prepared to pave the way for construction later.
For more information about the project, please visit: www.tritonknoll.co.uk
Ends
Media Contacts
| Mark Fleming
Triton Knoll Communications Manager
M: 07825 608096 E: mark.fleming@tritonknoll.co.uk
|
Editors notes
A Snapshot of Triton Knoll statistics:
The project will be located approximately 32km off the Lincolnshire coast and 50km off the coast of North Norfolk. It has consent to install almost 60 kilometres of onshore underground export cable, and a new substation near Bicker Fen.
- Likely overall capital expenditure investment in much needed UK energy infrastructure – around £2billion
- Likely overall UK content – at least 50% (full project lifecycle cost)
- Potential jobs supported – up to 3000 UK Jobs during construction
- of turbines – 90 MHI Vestas V164-9.5 MW
- Installed generating capacity – circa 860MW
- Homes equivalent – an expected minimum of 800,000
- Size of turbines (height) – Approximate tip height of V164-9.5 MW turbine – 187 m (NB; consent granted for maximum installed blade tip height up to 220m)
- Distance Offshore – 32 km off the coast of Lincolnshire and almost 50km from the coast of North Norfolk
- Point of Landfall – north of Anderby Creek
- Connection point to national grid network – existing national grid Bicker Fen substation
- Length of cable route (onshore & offshore) – onshore corridor = 57km, offshore corridor = 49km (combined distance is approx. the same as London to Southampton.)
- About MHI Vestas’ ground-breaking turbine
- Record energy production by a single turbine – 216 MWh in 24hrs
- Blade length – 80 metres in length
- Blade weight – 35 tonnes
- Blade sweep area – 21,124 m2
- Nacelle – 20 m long, 8 m wide and 8 m high, 400 tonnes
- Approximate hub height of 105 m
- Approximate tip height of V164-9.5 MW turbine – 187 m (NB; consent granted for maximum installed blade tip height up to 220m)
- Reduces operational and maintenance costs by enabling the running of fewer, larger turbines.
(2) CFD award and consents
Triton Knoll was awarded a Contract for Difference on Monday 11 September 2017.
In July 2013, the Secretary of State granted consent for the offshore array element of the project (turbines, offshore substations, inter array cables etc). In September 2016, the Secretary of State also granted a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the Electrical System (ES) which connects the power generated from the offshore array into the national grid onshore. The ES consent includes the offshore export cable, the onshore underground export cable, an intermediate electrical compound at Orby, and a new substation at Bicker Fen, ultimately ensuring the delivery of energy potentially into an anticipated 800,000 UK homes once the wind farm is fully operational.
(3) Partnership
Triton Knoll is a joint venture partnership between Innogy Renewables UK Ltd (innogy) (50% share) and Statkraft (50% share).
About Statkraft
Statkraft is a leading company in hydropower internationally and Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy. The Group produces hydropower, wind power, solar power, gas-fired power and district heating and is a global player in energy market operations. Statkraft has 3800 employees in more than 20 countries.
Since 2006, Statkraft has invested £1.4 billion in the UK’s renewable energy infrastructure and provided 2.5 GW of renewable energy Power Purchase Agreements (PPA’s)
For further information about Statkraft visit www.statkraft.com
About innogy SE
innogy SE is Germany’s leading energy company, with revenue of around €44 billion (2016), more than 40,000 employees and activities in 16 countries across Europe. With its three business segments Grid & Infrastructure, Retail and Renewables, innogy addresses the requirements of a modern, decarbonised, decentralised and digital energy world. Its activities focus on its
23 million customers, and on offering them innovative and sustainable products and services which enable them to use energy more efficiently and improve their quality of life. The key markets are Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as several countries in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe, especially the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. In renewable power generation, the company is also active in other regions, e.g. Spain, Italy and the MENA region (Middle East, North Africa), with a total capacity of 3.7 gigawatts. As a leader of innovation in future-oriented fields like eMobility, we are represented in the international hot-spots of the technology industry such as Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, London and Berlin. We combine the extensive expertise of our energy technicians and engineers with digital technology partners, from start-ups to major corporates. With planned capital investments of around €6.5- €7.0 billion (2017-2019), we are building the power market of the future and driving forward the transformation of the energy market.
innogy is colourful, flexible and full of energy – let’s innogize!
Renewables
With an installed capacity of more than 900 megawatts in offshore wind and with over 1900 megawatts in onshore wind, innogy is one of the major operators in Europe. We plan, build and operate plants to generate power and extract energy from renewable sources. Our aim is to take the expansion of renewables in Europe further in the short term, both on our own and working with partners. We believe that working together in this way is the key to making the energy transition a success. Currently, we are particularly strongly represented in our home market, Germany, followed by the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland. At the moment we are focusing on continuing to expand our activities in onshore and offshore wind power. We are also looking at entering new markets and technologies, such as large-scale photovoltaic plants.
Further information: www.innogy.com
(4) Energy Generation
It is estimated that the average annual generation expected at the site could be equivalent to the approximate domestic needs of an expected minimum of 800,000 average UK households.
Energy predicted to be generated by the proposal is derived using wind speeds monitored in the local area and correlated with long term reference data. The energy capture predicted and hence derived homes equivalent figure may change as further data are gathered.
Equivalent homes supplied is based on an annual electricity consumption per home of 4100 kWh. This figure is supported by recent domestic electricity consumption data available from The Digest of UK Energy Statistics and household figures from the UK National Statistics Authority.”