Der weltweit größte Offshore-Windpark, Walney Extension, wird heute im Rahmen einer Zeremonie in Barrow im Nordwesten Englands offiziell eröffnet.

(WK-intern) – Walney Extension, die im Besitz von Ørsted und seinen Partnern PFA und PKA ist, ist das erste Projekt, bei dem Windturbinen zweier verschiedener Hersteller zum Einsatz kommen.

Das Projekt 659MW, das zu Ørsted (50%) gehört, und seine Partner, die dänischen Pensionsfonds PKA (25%) und PFA (25%), haben London Array zum größten Betriebswindpark der Welt gemacht.

Die 87 Windturbinen von Walney Extension können genug grüne Energie erzeugen, um fast 600.000 Haushalte in Großbritannien zu versorgen. Mit einer Fläche von 145 km2 in der Irischen See wird das Projekt Ørsteds 11. Offshore-Offshore-Windpark in Großbritannien.

Walney Extension verwendet die neueste Technologie von zwei der weltweit führenden Turbinenhersteller und verfügt über 40 MHI Vestas 8MW Windturbinen und weitere 47 Siemens Gamesa 7MW Windturbinen.

Der Bau von Walney Extension wurde von Ørsteds West Coast Hub im Hafen von Barrow koordiniert, in dem nun das Betriebs- und Wartungsteam des Projekts arbeiten wird. Der West Coast Hub bedient auch drei weitere Ørsted-Offshore-Windparks, d. H. Barrow, Walney und West of Duddon Sands.

The world’s largest offshore wind farm opens today

The world’s largest operational offshore wind farm, Walney Extension, will be officially opened today at a ceremony in Barrow in the north-west of England. Walney Extension, which is owned by Ørsted and its partners PFA and PKA, is the first project to use wind turbines from two different manufacturers.

The 659MW project, owned by Ørsted (50%) and its partners, the Danish pension funds PKA (25%) and PFA (25%), leapfrogs London Array to become the world’s largest operational wind farm.

Walney Extension’s 87 wind turbines can generate enough green energy to power almost 600,000 UK homes. Covering an area of 145km2 in the Irish Sea, the project becomes Ørsted’s 11th operational offshore wind farm in the UK.

Utilising the latest technology from two of the world’s leading turbine manufacturers, Walney Extension features 40 MHI Vestas 8MW wind turbines and a further 47 Siemens Gamesa 7MW wind turbines.

Construction of Walney Extension was co-ordinated from Ørsted’s West Coast Hub, at the Port of Barrow, which will now become home to the project’s operations and maintenance team. The West Coast Hub also services three further Ørsted offshore wind farms, i.e. Barrow, Walney and West of Duddon Sands.

The completion of Walney Extension brings Ørsted’s total capacity operating out of Barrow up to 1.5GW. Ørsted’s ongoing operations and maintenance activities will support more than 250 direct jobs in the region.

Matthew Wright, Ørsted UK Managing Director, said: „The UK is the global leader in offshore wind and Walney Extension showcases the industry’s incredible success story. The project, completed on time and within budget, also marks another important step towards Ørsted’s vision of a world that runs entirely on green energy. The North-West region plays an important role in our UK offshore wind operations and our aim is to make a lasting and positive impact here. We want to ensure that the local community becomes an integral part of the renewable energy revolution that’s happening along its coastline.“

Peter Damgaard Jensen, CEO at PKA, said: „We’re proud to participate in the opening of the world’s largest offshore wind farm to date, and to supply over half a million UK homes with green power. Walney Extension is our sixth investment in wind farms since 2011, and is yet another important contribution to PKA’s ambitious climate strategy in which we continuously work to create good returns to our members while at the same time making a positive difference for the climate.“

Henrik Nøhr Poulsen, Executive Director and responsible for Equities and Alternative Investments at PFA, said: „At PFA, we’re very happy to be a part of this great project, together with Ørsted and PKA, which is a milestone in the market of renewable energy and an important contribution towards the green transition. It’s an historic event and the largest renewable investment ever made by PFA.. The Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm investment represents a considerable extension of our portfolio of alternative investments and fits perfectly into our strategic focus on providing our customers with reliable and stable long-term returns.“

About Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm

Owned by Ørsted (50%), PKA (25%) and PFA (25%)
Located in the Irish Sea – approximately 19km from the Walney Island coast in Cumbria
Covers an area of 145km2 equal to around 20,000 football pitches
Total capacity of 659MW – capable of powering almost 600,000 UK homes
First project to use turbine technology from two different manufacturers
More than 200km of cables used to connect the turbines offshore to the National Grid onshore
Features two offshore substations, each weighing 4,000 tonnes. The jacket foundation height is 50m, and topside height is 18.5m.

About the offshore wind turbines at Walney Extension

Siemens Gamesa

40 x 7MW
Rotor diameter: 154m
Height (from sea level to blade tip): 188m
Each blade weighs 28 tonnes

MHI Vestas

47 x 8MW
Rotor diameter: 164m
Height (from sea level to blade tip): 195m
Each blade weighs 34 tonnes

About Ørsted

The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs and operates offshore wind farms, bioenergy plants and innovative waste-to-energy solutions and provides smart energy products to its customers. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 5,700 people. Ørsted’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2017, the group’s revenue was DKK 59.5 billion (EUR 8.0 billion). For more information on Ørsted, visit https://orsted.com/.

About PFA

PFA was founded in 1917 as an independent company by a number of labour organisations, with the sole purpose of ensuring a financially secure future for the employees and their families. Today, PFA is the largest commercial pension company in Denmark with over DKK 500 billion (EUR 67 billion) under management. PFA has approximately 1.2 million individual customers from a wide range of the largest companies and organisations in Denmark. This means that PFA can keep costs low, it has access to attractive investment options and it is able to attract some of the best investment partners in the world. www.pfa.dk

About PKA

PKA is one of the largest occupational pension funds in Denmark. The PKA Group is owned by four occupational pension funds with more than 300,000 members, mainly employees in the public social and health sectors. At the end of 2017 the market value of the assets managed by PKA Ltd. was approximately DKK 275 billion (€38 bn.).

PR: Ørsted

PB: The world’s largest offshore wind farm opens today