ScottishPower Renewables and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) announced the completion of the East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm, 43km off the Suffolk coast. The wind farm is now fully operational.

East Anglia ONE consists of 102 Siemens Gamesa offshore wind turbines, with the capacity to produce 714MW of clean energy, equivalent to the energy required to power more than 630,000 homes.

The £2.5 billion East Anglia ONE project is a joint venture between ScottishPower Renewables and GIG. ScottishPower Renewables is developing 3 other large scale wind farms in the region:

• East Anglia One North: 36 km from shore, with up to 67 turbines capable of generating up to 800 MW of power (equivalent to 650,000 homes)
• East Anglia TWO: 31 km from shore, with up to 75 turbines capable of generating up to 900 MW of power (equivalent to 740,000 homes)
• East Anglia THREE: 69 km from shore, capable of generating up to 1,400 MW of power (equivalent to 1 million homes)

Charlie Jordan, East Anglia ONE Project Director at ScottishPower Renewables, said:

“The final commissioning of East Anglia ONE is an incredible milestone for us and our project partners, as well as our wider stakeholders, the East Anglian region and the whole of the UK. And it comes at a crucial time as the UK takes it first steps towards a green economic recovery.

“Reaching this point was always going to be an extremely important moment for us – heralding the start of full production of green energy from a major site that will play a real part in the UK’s path to Net Zero.  What has made it even more incredible is the determination and tenacity of our team, who have worked tirelessly to deliver this significant technical project amidst an unprecedented pandemic, which none of us could have planned for. This was also the first time we have worked with Green Investment Group, and I would like to thank them for their support.

“I am extremely proud of everyone involved who has helped to deliver the project, doing so in a safe manner. I am delighted East Anglia ONE will play a leading roll in the region’s green energy production, and will also become a hub of industry, investment and skills as we continue to build the green energy sector that’s so important for our future.”

According to ScottishPower Renewables, approximately 20% of the project’s turbine installation and around half the turbine connection work needed to be completed during lockdown in order to enable the project to be delivered on time. This required a significant adjustment in work processes, which  included switching to a higher number of smaller vessels, creating crew ‘households’ who lived and worked together at all times, introducing new welfare protocols and minimising crew changes.

According to the partners, with the project now complete, East Anglia ONE will now play a major part in contributing to the UK’s target of meeting Net Zero by 2050. The partners also stated that the project is a significant economic contributor, creating 3,500 jobs during the construction phase, and 100 ongoing long-term skilled jobs created at the operations and maintenance base in Lowestoft.

Edward Northam, Head of GIG Europe, said:

“Successfully commissioning one of the world’s largest offshore windfarms on time, despite all of the challenges posed by Covid-19, is a testament to the incredible efforts of the whole East Anglia ONE team – and the many UK businesses that have supported the project. Many congratulations to all involved.

“East Anglia ONE is a reminder that the UK continues to lead the world in the successful delivery of offshore wind projects, and I’m proud of the role that Green Investment Group has played, and continues to play, in supporting and funding the development of this market. We remain committed to accelerating the UK’s energy transition and believe offshore wind will be at the heart of the UK’s net zero energy system.”

The completion of this project brings the total capacity of UK offshore wind supported by Macquarie and GIG to over 5.7 GW, across 14 projects.

Andrew Elmes, East Anglia ONE Senior Project Manager at Siemens Gamesa, added:

“The team reacted superbly to the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing East Anglia ONE from being derailed by the unprecedented situation. Safety issues to be managed in a critical period included: complete vessel, accommodation, and crew reorganisations; quarantine events, social distancing, suspect cases and testing onsite. We are extremely proud to have done so while achieving several key customer – and Siemens Gamesa – business milestones, despite the uncertainty. We’ve now commissioned the entire offshore wind power project, making real our commitment to providing clean energy for generations to come.”