Humber Gateway

Humber Gateway Wind Farm Profile

Location

The Humber Gateway Wind Farm is located approximately 8 kilometres east of Spurn Point, off the coast of North East Lincolnshire, in the North Sea, England. Specifically, it is situated north of the mouth of the River Humber, about 8 km off the Holderness Coast of East Yorkshire.

Project Development and Ownership

The wind farm was developed by Humber Wind Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of E.ON UK plc. However, in 2020, the ownership of Humber Gateway was transferred to RWE, alongside E.ON's other renewables business. Currently, the project is owned by RWE Renewables UK (51%), Greencoat UK Wind (37.8%), and Greencoat Renewable Income (11.2%).

Capacity and Turbines

The Humber Gateway Wind Farm has a total capacity of 219 MW, generated by 73 Vestas V112-3.0 MW offshore wind turbines. Each turbine has a nameplate capacity of 3 MW.

Site and Infrastructure

• Area and Water Depth: The wind farm covers an area of approximately 25 square kilometres (9.7 sq mi) and is located in waters with depths around 15 metres (49 ft).
• Foundations: The turbines are installed on monopile foundations, with the contracts for these foundations split between TAG Energy Solutions (UK) and Sif (Netherlands).
• Substations and Cabling: The project includes offshore substations and subsea export cables that make landfall at Easington. The electricity is then transmitted via a 30 km underground cable to the National Grid at a new substation near Salt End, on the eastern outskirts of Kingston upon Hull.

Construction and Operational Timeline

• Planning and Approval: The planning application was submitted in 2008, with governmental planning approval granted in early 2011 for a 230 MW wind farm. The final plan was for a 219 MW wind farm with 73 turbines.
• Construction: The main construction contracts were awarded in 2012, with the first turbine foundation installed in September 2013. The submarine export cables were laid by January 2014, and the first turbine was installed mid-2014. The wind farm became fully operational in June 2015, ahead of the scheduled completion date.
• Official Opening: The wind farm was formally opened by Andrea Leadsom, the UK Government Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change, on 30 September 2015.

Operations and Maintenance

• Operations Centre: An operations and maintenance centre was built at the Port of Grimsby, with construction completed by September 2013. The centre was formally opened by Eric Pickles on 1 August 2014.
• Maintenance: Vestas Offshore Wind is the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contractor for the wind farm.

Energy Generation and Impact

• Electricity Generation: The wind farm generates enough electricity to power up to 199,000 UK homes, which is more than one and a half times the number of homes in Hull.
• Annual Energy Output: The wind farm produces approximately 757,591.956 MWh of electricity annually.
• Environmental Impact: The project is expected to make a significant contribution to the UK’s renewable generation targets and help tackle climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Economic and Financial Aspects

• Cost and Funding: The initial investment for the project was around £700 million. The European Investment Bank provided £82 million for the transmission infrastructure.
• Power Purchase Agreement: The power generated from the project is sold to E.ON UK under a power purchase agreement for a period of 13 years from 2022, with a contracted capacity of 219 MW.

Operational Life and Repowering

• Operational Life: The wind farm has an expected operational life of 40 years, aligned with the term of the lease from the Crown Estate. After 20 to 25 years, repowering (replacing the wind turbines) may be necessary, subject to further environmental studies and marine consents.