El proyecto Seagreen es el parque e\u00f3lico m\u00e1s grande de Escocia y tiene las turbinas ancladas al fondo fijo (SSE), siendo las m\u00e1s profundas instaladas hasta ahora. Cuando est\u00e9 completamente instalado, el parque e\u00f3lico constar\u00e1 de 277 turbinas que producir\u00e1n un r\u00e9cord de 3,6 GW de energ\u00eda. El 10 de octubre produjo el primer flujo de energ\u00eda electrica. Adem\u00e1s de su tama\u00f1o, el parque e\u00f3lico es tambi\u00e9n el primero en el mundo en utilizar las enormes turbinas GE Vernova Halliade-X de 13 MW. Seg\u00fan datos del proyecto, cada rotaci\u00f3n de las aspas de 351 pies de la turbina puede producir suficiente energ\u00eda para alimentar un hogar promedio durante dos d\u00edas. Cada turbina mide poco m\u00e1s de 850 pies.<\/p>\n
Two large wind farms that are significant projects for the UK each marked milestones in the past week. While newer development projects are struggling, experts pointed to the progress of these wind farms saying they continue to demonstrate the strong contribution the industry will make to providing clean, renewable energy.<\/p>\n
In Scotland, the Seagreen wind farm, located about 17 miles off the east-central coast was declared fully operational today, October 17. Developed by TotalEnergies and SSE Renewables, the project is being credited with a series of achievements. Chief among them is that it became the largest operating wind farm in Scotland and also the world\u2019s deepest fixed-bottom wind farm.<\/p>\n
It took nearly 14 years to fully develop the project including three years of construction. The Crown Estate granted the first rights for development in 2010 followed by approval from the Scottish government in 2014. Construction started in June 2020 with the first power generated two years later in August 2022. TotalEnergies, which owns 51 percent of the project and will manage it going forward, reports Seagreen represents a total investment of around $4 billion, in line with the expected capex.<\/p>\n
The wind farm has a capacity to produce 1,075 MW of energy, which the company equates to 5 terawatt hours or enough energy to power almost 1.6 million homes annually, equivalent to two-thirds of all the homes in Scotland. The project has a total of 114 Vestas V164-10 MW turbines and notably, they are fixed to the bottom of depths of up to approximately 200 feet.<\/p>\n
The project is being hailed as a key step as the UK moves into the next phase of offshore energy development. The UK had been the largest installed base of offshore wind energy until it was surpassed by China in 2021. Analysts calculate that the UK has nearly 14 GW of offshore energy installed while China is estimated to be exceeding 30 GW of offshore wind energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cOffshore wind is a resounding British success story,\u201d said UK Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho celebrating the commissioning of Seagreen. \u201cNot only has it become Scotland\u2019s largest offshore wind farm, but it also results in the UK having the world\u2019s five largest operational windfarms off its shores.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seagreen\u2019s milestone in Scotland came just a week after the world\u2019s largest wind farm under construction generated its first power. Located approximately 80 miles off the coast of Yorkshire in the North Sea, the Dogger Bank Wind Farm consists of three 1.2 GW phases and will take another three years to complete.<\/p>\n
When fully installed, the project will consist of 277 turbines producing a record 3.6GW of energy. Dogger Bank A produced first power on October 10. In addition to its size, the wind farm is also the first in the world to use the massive GE Vernova Halliade-X 13MW turbines. It also became the first to energize these new turbines with the project pointing out that each rotation of the turbine\u2019s 351-foot blades can produce enough energy to power an average home for two days. Each turbine stands just over 850 feet, which Dogger Bank points out is almost twice the size of the London Eye and the same height as New York\u2019s iconic Rockefeller Center.<\/p>\n
Dogger Bank is being developed and built by the UK\u2019s SSE Renewables in a joint venture with Norway\u2019s Equinor and V\u00e5rgr\u00f8nn, which in turn is a joint venture of Eni Plenitude and HitecVision. SSE Renewables is the lead operator for the development and construction of Dogger Bank Wind Farm. Equinor will be the lead operator of the wind farm on completion for its expected operational life of around 35 years.<\/p>\n
When the project reaches full commercial operation in 2026, they highlight it will be more than two and a half times the size of the largest offshore wind farm currently in operation.<\/p>\n