First Wind Turbine Foundations Installed At Triton Knoll

First Wind Turbine Foundations Installed At Triton Knoll

Offshore wind project Triton Knoll, located just off the Lincolnshire coast, has installed the first of 90 wind turbine monopile foundations, with the wind farm boasting a maximum installed capacity of 857 megawatts once fully operational… capable of powering the equivalent of more than 800,000 homes.

Project director Julian Garnsey made the announcement, saying how great it was to see the years of hard work pay off with the site of the infrastructure starting to rise above the surface of the sea.

“We will continue to press ahead with the foundations programme, as the weather permits, and look forward to installation of the project’s offshore substations and cables later this summer,” he went on to add.

Triton Knoll has a turbine array covering an area of 145 square kilometres, which is bigger than the City of Manchester.

At the beginning of the year, the National Grid revealed that 2019 was the cleanest year ever for Britain, with the amount of zero carbon power outpacing that from fossil fuels for the entire 12 months.

A combination of wind farms, nuclear and solar energy, coupled with imported energy, delivered 48.5 per cent of the country’s electricity last year, compared to the 43 per cent delivered by fossil fuels, with the remainder coming from biomass.

National Grid CEO John Pettigrew described it as a “historic moment” and a chance to reflect on what has been achieved thus far, adding that National Grid itself has a “critical role” to play in the move towards a cleaner future and it is committed to doing its bit in ensuring that the energy system is safe, secure and works for all.

The Triton Knoll wind farm, part-owned by innogy, J-Power and Kansai Electric Power, represents an important potential source for homegrown renewable energy, with onshore construction work starting back in September 2018.

A Triton Knoll Community Fund has also been set up to deliver locally important projects and initiatives, with £500,000 available from the One Off Construction Fund during the onshore construction works over a two-year period.

An additional £40,000 each year has also been made available for the areas neighbouring the onshore and the landfall location during the operational lifetime of the project. This will become available when the wind farm itself starts to generate power, which is expected to take place during 2021.

Another key milestone was also reached this month (January), with work starting on the largest offshore wind farm in the world – Dogger Bank, made up of three offshore wind farm sites in the North Sea. This project will be able to generate enough renewable energy to power 4.5 million homes each year.

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