London Array offshore wind farm sees first foundation installed

gCaptain -

The first of 177 foundations has been installed at the U.K.’s multi-billion pound flagship offshore wind farm London Array that will be the largest offshore wind farm when it is commissioned next year.

The monopile, which provides the base for the wind turbine, was supplied and installed by joint venture Per Arsleff Bilfinger Berger Ingeniurbeu GmBH using A2SEA’s jack-up barge, Seaworker. The transition piece was then lifted into place, completing the project’s first full foundation installation.

“This is a significant milestone for London Array, off the shore and into the water. Soon we’ll be seeing the turbines going up and the wind farm starting to generate low carbon electricity,” said DON Energy CEO Anders Eldrup.

London Array is located around 20 kilometers off the coast of Kent and Essex in southeast England and will be built in two phases. The first phase will include 175 wind turbines with a combined capacity of 630 megawatts and the second phase will take the capacity up to 1,000 megawatts.

The first phase is expected to be completed at the end of 2012.

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