Siemens has received a major order for its offshore wind power business – to supply, install and commission a total of 102 wind turbines, each with a capacity of seven megawatts and a rotor diameter of 154 meters.  This falls under the East Anglia ONE project, for which the customer is ScottishPower Renewables, and is planned to be operational in 2020, and is expected to bring power to around 500,000 British households. Siemens will additionally be responsible for servicing the wind farm for an initial period of five years.

The East Anglia ONE offshore wind power plant will be located approximately 45 kilometers off the British east coast,  covering an area of 300 square kilometers.  The company announced that the port of Great Yarmouth will serve as pre-assembly harbour for the project, with the turbines scheduled for installation in the summer of 2019, with the start of commercial operation scheduled for 2020. Siemens has also been awarded a long-term service agreement which includes remote monitoring and diagnostics services to help ensure the long-term reliability, performance and availability of the wind turbines.

The logistics approach will feature the availability of a helicopter that will be based near Lowestoft port and used mainly in winter when the use of crew transfer vessels is not feasible due to high wave conditions and rough seas.  The only helicopter which fits this description is the dedicated wind power support EC135 operated by Babcock (ex Bond)

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com