| Barrow Offshore Wind Farm | |
|---|---|
 Barrow Offshore Wind Farm, April 2009 | |
 Location of Barrow Offshore Wind Farm off the coast of England | |
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
| Location | East Irish Sea, south west ofWalney Island,Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria |
| Coordinates | 53°59′00″N3°17′00″W / 53.9833°N 3.2833°W /53.9833; -3.2833 |
| Status | Operational |
| Commission date | 2006 |
| Owner | Ørsted A/S |
| Wind farm | |
| Type | |
| Distance from shore | 7 km (4 mi) |
| Hub height | 75 m (246 ft) |
| Rotor diameter | 90 m (300 ft) |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 30 |
| Make and model | Vestas Wind Systems: Vestas V90-3MW |
| Nameplate capacity | 90MW |
| External links | |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
TheBarrow Offshore Wind Farm is a 30 turbine 90MW capacity offshorewind farm in the East Irish Sea approximately seven kilometres (four nautical miles) southwest ofWalney Island, nearBarrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England.
Construction of the wind farm took place between 2005 and 2006. The farm is operated by Barrow Offshore Wind Limited, owned byØrsted A/S.
Barrow wind farm was aUK Round 1 wind farm development originally developed byWarwick Energy Limited.[1] A planning application was submitted in 2001,[2] and planning consent given in March 2003;[3] the project was sold toCentrica (25%, c.£22.5million),Ørsted A/S (then named DONG Energy) (37.5%), andStatkraft (37.5%) in Sep. 2003.[4][5] The estimated cost of developing the project was £100 million, of which £10million was provided by a UK government grant.[5][6] In 2004 Centrica and Ørsted bought the Statkraft stake, forming a 50:50 joint venture in the development.[7]
The initial Warwick Energy proposal was for a 30 turbine wind farm 7 km southwest ofWalney Island (Cumbria), with a generating capacity of up to 108 MW; electrical power supply to the mainland was to be via a ~25 km long 132 kV cable making groundfall nearHeysham, with connection to the mainland electrical grid at an extension to an existingelectricity substation south ofHeysham nuclear power station.[8] Turbines were expected to have ~50m radius blades, with a 75m hub height, and be in water at a depth of ~20 m, with a ~32.5 m sub-sea bedmonopile foundation; the turbines were to be spaced approximately 500 m apart in four rows aligned to face the prevailing southwesterly winds, with a row spacing of ~750 m.[9]
In July 2004 Kellogg Brown & Root Ltd and Vestas-Celtic Wind Technology Ltd were awarded the contract to install and commission the wind farm, and to operate the wind farm for five years.[10] A 30-turbine wind farm with a capacity of 90MW was constructed by the consortium between July 2005 and May 2006. The main construction base was atHarland and Wolff's shipyard in Belfast.[11] In exceptions where pile driving of monopile foundations failed, drilling was used to form the monopile foundations.[11][12]
IEC 1A class Vestas V90-3.0 MW wind turbines were used, mounted on a 75 m tower connected to 4.75 m (15 ft 7 in) monopiles supplied by a Sif/Smulders joint venture.[13] Turbine to offshore substation electric connection were at 33 kV, with the voltage stepped up to 132 kV at an offshore substation supplied byAreva T&D (transformer), Sif/Smulders (superstructure and monopile) and designed byKBR andMott MacDonald. Cables were supplied byPrysmian (33 kV) andNexans (132 kV).[14]
Construction of the wind farm was completed in June 2006 with the first power generated in March 2006.[15] The operator isBarrow Offshore Wind Limited, owned by Centrica and Ørsted.[1]
Since 2008 (to 2012) the farm operated at between 30 and 40%capacity factor, generating between 240 and 320 GWh of electrical energy per year.[16] Itslevelised cost has been estimated at £87/MWh.[17]
In 2011 regulatory changes required Ørsted/Centrica to divest the electrical transmission assets of the wind farm, which were sold to TC Barrow OFTO Ltd. for £34 million.[18]
In 2014 Ørsted acquired Centrica's 50% holding in the wind farm.[19]
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