Transformers arrive at London Array onshore substation

Wednesday, Sep 01, 2010

The consortium behind the 1GW London Array project has revealed that the first two transformers have been delivered to the onshore substation in Kent which will connect the offshore wind farm to the National Grid once it becomes operational.

The route and timing of the journey was carefully planned with the Highways Agency, police and local councils to minimise disruption

The transformers were transported to the Cleve Hill substation site, in Graveney, at the end of last month, with another two transformers set to be delivered to the location by the end of 2011. Each transformer is 8.5 metres long and 2.5 metres wide and weighs approximately 130 tonnes.

The work on the onshore substation, as well as work on two offshore substations, is being carried out by Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd, under a contract it was awarded by the London Array's developers, energy companies DONG Energy, E.ON and Masdar, in December 2009.

Once operational, the first phase of the London Array offshore wind farm will produce 630MW of energy which will be transported to Cleve Hill at 150,000 volts. The transformers will be used to convert this to 400,000 volts to enable the energy produced by the wind farm to be transported to the national electricity network.

The two transformers were delivered on separate days to the site as abnormal loads by specialist ALE (Abnormal Load Engineering) and were accompanied by a police escort. The transformers departed Chatham Dock and followed A-roads and the M2 to the Cleve Hill site.

London Array apologised for any inconvenience caused to drivers at this time but gave advanced warning of potential disruption via local media. Matt Britton, commercial and operations manager at London Array, said: "The route and timing of the journey was carefully planned with the Highways Agency, police and local councils to minimise disruption."

Construction of the onshore substation began in July 2009, with the transformers being one of the major development components. The site is set to be completed in November 2011 with the next stage of development seeing export cables installed at the site later this year.

The export cables are set to be delivered by French cabling company Nexans and to be installed by Dutch cable installation company Visser & Smit Marine Contracting and UK-based Global Marine Systems.

Operations and maintenance buildings for the London Array consortium are being constructed at Ramsgate Port by construction company Mansell Services, which was awarded a £3.9 million development deal for the work earlier this month.

The London Array wind farm is being developed 20km off the coasts of Kent and Essex in the Outer Thames Estuary and is set to be developed in two phases. Once developed it is set to be the largest offshore wind farm in the world.

Work on the first phase is expected to start in early 2011 with a projected 2012 operational date, while the second phase - which would bring installed capacity up to 1,000MW - is still dependent on planning approval.

Source: New Energy Focus