Project Overview
Key facts
Gwynt y Môr is a 576-megawatt offshore wind farm located off the coast of North Wales and is the fifth largest operating offshore windfarm in the world.
Project type: Installation and Maintenance
Wind turbine model: Siemens Gamesa SWT-3.6-107
Highlights: 24-hour service with zero lost time incidents
Project length: 2012 – 2015
Revenue: £6m
People: Project and HS&E Management Team, Supervisors, Riggers, and Mechanical Fitters. 32 men at project peak; 7 men for snagging and variation work.
Project Scope
Planning consent to install 160 wind turbines of 150 metres tip height above mean sea level was granted on 3rd December 2008. In 2012 AIS were contracted to load and assemble the 160 Turbines onto the Quayside and carried out maintenance operations that followed.
Challenges
The work involved in mechanically fitting out each transition piece weighing over 300 tonnes and positioned 30 metres high in all weather conditions.
Outcome
In August 2013 Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm officially generated and exported its first electricity, on track to become the second largest operational wind farm in the world. As a result, the wind farm was enabled to become fully operational in 2014 and could generate enough energy from renewable sources to power the equivalent of approximately 400,000 homes – that’s equivalent to cutting 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.
Steve Norman (Operations Director)
“We are proud to have played a part in helping this major wind farm achieve it’s first power. Our aim is to continue supporting the project through commissioning to the final hand over and beyond. The work involved in mechanically fitting out each transition piece weighing over 300 tonnes and positioned 30 metres high in all weather conditions has been a challenge, which I am proud to say the team have taken on and overcome.
In addition we have recorded zero lost time incidents on this project in over two year’s service 24 hours a day.”