Walney Extension

Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm Profile

Location: The Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm is located in the Irish Sea, approximately 19 kilometers west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria, Northwest England.

Ownership: The wind farm is owned by Ørsted (50%) and the Danish pension funds PKA (25%) and PFA (25%).

Capacity and Coverage:

• The wind farm has a total capacity of 659 MW, making it one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world at the time of its completion.
• It covers an area of 145 square kilometers, equivalent to around 20,000 football pitches.

Turbines: The wind farm is equipped with 87 offshore wind turbines, consisting of:

• 47 MHI Vestas V164-8.0MW turbines:
  • Rotor diameter: 164 meters
  • Height from sea level to blade tip: 195 meters
  • Each blade weighs 34 tonnes.
• 40 Siemens Gamesa SWT-7.0-154 7MW turbines:
  • Rotor diameter: 154 meters
  • Height from sea level to blade tip: 188 meters
  • Each blade weighs 28 tonnes.

Power Generation: The wind farm is capable of generating enough clean electricity to power nearly 600,000 UK homes.

Construction:

• Construction began in August 2015 with the start of onshore substation works in Heysham.
• Offshore construction started in early 2016.
• The installation of foundations was completed within 24 months.
• The final turbine was installed in April 2018, and the wind farm was officially opened on September 6, 2018.

Infrastructure:

• The wind farm features two offshore substations, each weighing 4,000 tonnes. The jacket foundation height is 50 meters, and the topside height is 18.5 meters.
• More than 200 kilometers of cables were used to connect the turbines offshore to the National Grid onshore.
• Power is transmitted through subsea export cables with a voltage between 132kV and 220kV, which are then connected to an onshore substation.

Onshore Substation:

• The onshore substation is located to the east of the NGET Middleton substation and covers an area of 28,900 square meters.
• It is equipped with 400kV/220kV/16kV onshore transformers, 220kV reactors, high-voltage gas-insulated switchgear systems, static VAR compensators, and harmonic filters.

Economic and Employment Impact:

• The project created more than 500 new jobs in the UK during the main construction phase between 2016 and 2019.
• The total project value was approximately $3 billion.

Regulatory and Development:

• The project received development consent from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in November 2014.
• The wind farm was developed under the UK’s Electricity Market Reform (EMR) FID-enabling regime.

Operational Details:

• The wind farm is expected to have a lifespan of approximately 25 years.
• It was the world's largest offshore wind farm at the time of its completion in 2018, though it has since been surpassed by other projects like Hornsea One and Hornsea Two, also developed by Ørsted.