Ormonde

Location and Overview

The Ormonde Wind Farm is situated in the Irish Sea, approximately 10 kilometers off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness in the North-West of the UK.

Capacity and Production

The wind farm has a total capacity of 150 MW, generated by 30 REpower wind turbines, each with a 5 MW nameplate capacity. It is expected to produce around 500 GWh of electricity per year, which is sufficient to power more than 100,000 UK homes.

Area and Layout

The wind farm covers an area of 8.7 square kilometers (3.4 square miles). Each turbine is located 560 meters apart and is erected on 500-tonne four-legged steel jackets installed in 21 meters of water.

Turbine Specifications

• Each turbine has a hub height of 90 meters and a rotor diameter of 126 meters.
• The turbines weigh 661 tonnes, with the towers weighing 221 tonnes.

Construction and Development

Planning

The Ormonde project was originally proposed in 2002 by Eclipse Energy as a hybrid wind and natural gas operation. However, after Vattenfall acquired Eclipse in 2008, the project was developed as a wind-only facility due to the infeasibility of the gas operation.

Construction

Construction began in May 2010 and was completed in August 2011. Key milestones include:

• Onshore works started in November 2009 with the construction of the substation at Heysham.
• The export cable from the wind farm to the Heysham substation was laid between January and April 2010.
• Offshore works started in May 2010, with the first turbine installed in March 2011 and the last in August 2011.

Contractors and Suppliers

• REpower: Supplied the 5 MW wind turbines.
• OWEC Tower AS: Responsible for the detail engineering of piles, primary and secondary steel for the wind turbine sub-structures, and the first commercial deployment of the OWEC-Quattropod® foundation.
• Burntisland Fabrications: Fabricated the steel jacket foundations in Scotland.
• Prysmian: Supplied submarine power cable connections, including 27 km of 33 kV inter-array cables and 42 km of 132 kV export cable.
• A2SEA: Installed the turbines using the SeaJack installation vessel.
• Harland and Wolff: Provided logistics and assembly services, unloading and pre-assembling the turbines and towers.

Operations and Maintenance

The wind farm was fully commissioned on 22 February 2012. An operations and maintenance facility is located on the dockside in Barrow Harbour, supporting the ongoing operation of the wind farm.

Environmental and Community Impact

• An environmental monitoring program was undertaken throughout the construction process to minimize environmental disturbances.
• A program was also implemented to reduce disturbance to marine mammals.
• The project supported over 800 UK jobs during its development, construction, and operation phases.
• Vattenfall engages in community activities and maintains a commitment to being a good neighbor.

Ownership and Partnerships

• Vattenfall is the majority shareholder with a 51% ownership stake.
• In 2015, Vattenfall entered a partnership with the Swedish pension group AMF, which owns a 49% share of the wind farm.

Innovations

• First commercial deployment of 5 MW REpower turbines in UK waters.
• First commercial deployment of steel jacket foundations fabricated in Scotland.
• Longest 'single-pull' electricity export cable installation in UK waters (42 km).

Incidents

In 2021, a rotor and blades from one of the wind turbines fell into the sea due to a maintenance error. The components broke up, and debris was washed up on nearby beaches. Recovery efforts for the blades and rotor were successfully completed.

Financial Investment

Vattenfall invested €552 million in the Ormonde Wind Farm project.

Grid Connection

Electricity generated by the wind farm is transferred onshore through a 42 km long, 132 kV export cable to the Heysham substation, from where it is further transferred to the national grid. In July 2012, Vattenfall transferred ownership of the export cable to Transmission Capital Partners (TCP) under a €103.9 million deal.