E.ON Humber Gateway

COMPANY PROFILE

2015

E.ON HUMBER GATEWAY WIND PROJECT

www.eon.com

A landmark achievement Editorial: Rosie DeWinter

Ranking among the world’s top three leading offshore wind power companies, E.ON proudly announced earlier this year that the Humber Gateway wind farm project off the coast of Yorkshire, UK, began generating electricity two months ahead of schedule and with the last turbine laid in April – it is set to generate enough climate-friendly energy to power 170,000 homes.

Developed by Humber Wind Limited, a subsidiary of E.ON UK, plans for the Humber Gateway wind farm began more than ten years ago following a bid from E.ON to the Crown Estate to develop an offshore wind farm located off the Holderness coast, north of the mouth of the River Humber in East Yorkshire.

Following this initial bid, E.ON, the world’s third largest offshore wind operator, submitted a planning application in 2008/9 for the wind farm, an offshore substation and onshore underground cable and in February 2011, the UK government awarded planning approval for a 230MW – 77

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turbine – wind farm.

Following this governmental approval, E.ON began plans for a 219MW wind farm with a total of 73 turbines and a completion date set for the spring of 2015.

Situated 8km east of Spurn Point off the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire in the North Sea, Humber Gateway wind farm covers an area measuring 9.7sq miles. Sitting in water depths of 15m, the offshore wind farm is located within the Greater Wash strategic environmental assessment area - recognised in 2002 as a suitable area for offshore power generation by the UK government for its

close proximity to the National Grid and favourable wind conditions.

Corporate Communications Manager, Markus Nitschke explains: “After considering a number of alternative sites we believe Humber Gateway is an ideal location for the generation of offshore wind energy, with its high winds and good connection into the National Grid. A key part to the project is the connection of the offshore wind farm into the National Grid onshore. Connected through onshore and offshore cables linked to a substation, these are essential components to the project, as the cables are needed to feed the electricity

HUMBER GATEWAY WIND PROJECT

generated by the wind farm into the National Grid for distribution around the UK. “The offshore cables will bring ashore the electricity where it will adjoin the onshore cables that will run underground for approximately 30 km from Easington to Salt End. Two substations, one onshore and one offshore, will be needed to step up the voltage of the electricity that is generated by the turbines to connect into the National Grid.”

Onshore construction works at the project site began in the first quarter of 2012 for the onshore cable installation, substation connection to the National Grid and for the construction of an operations and maintenance base situated at Grimsby dock. While offshore construction works, including the installation of a subsea export cable and turbine foundations, began in 2013.

Both construction phases helped in introducing local employment to the area, with up to 1,000 people employed, with an additional 30 jobs during the operational and maintenance phase.

In a bid to transform a derelict site at Grimsby fish docks for the wind farm’s maintenance and operations base, E.ON invested an estimated £4 million

– helping to improve the surrounding quayside for vessels.

AHEAD OF SCHEDULE Due to be operational this summer, the final wind turbine at the Humber Gateway site was laid in April this year and in June, it was announced that all 73 wind turbines were up and generating two months ahead of schedule.

Power from the wind farm will then be fed into the National Grid through an offshore cable laid from the wind farm to Easington, where it will then adjoin a 30km underground onshore cable running up to Salt End. Matthew Swanwick, E.ON’s Humber Gateway project manager, said: “This is the last stage of the major construction phase and the culmination of more than three years’ offshore construction work which began in early 2012 starting with work at the onshore substation.

Reaching this milestone two months early is immensely satisfying for the project team and something which we are all very proud of.

“Throughout construction we’ve had to overcome more than our fair share of challenges, including particularly difficult weather conditions, which the team

rose to and successfully overcome.

We still have some secondary works to complete but I’d like to thank everyone involved in the success achieved so far.”

First electricity was generated from the project site in February this year and it is hoped that once the wind farm is fully commissioned, it will generate enough electricity to power an estimated 170,000 homes.

“I welcome the news that the Humber Gateway is soon to be fully operational – ahead of schedule. E.ON’s investment on the site of the former Grimsby Fish Docks has been a major contributor to the regeneration of the port estate and is one of the many investments in the offshore sector that is proving to be the renaissance of the local economy, providing a wide range of jobs,” commented Martin Vickers, Cleethorpes MP. Humber Gateway follows in the footprints of numerous wind projects now operating within the region, including DONG Energy’s Westermost Rough Wind project. Centrica’s Lynn, Inner Dowsing and Lincs Farm projects are all managed from Grimsby, with all 237 wind turbines operated and maintained from North East Lincolnshire

© E.ON

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and all generating clean, green and renewable energy to the grid.

The Humber Gateway Offshore Wind Farm now stands as one of several major renewable energy sites within E.ON’s portfolio which includes the London Array, the world’s largest offshore wind farm.

E.ON is also building Amrumbank West offshore wind farm in the German North Sea and in May this year, the company announced it is to move forward with Rampion, a 400MW project located off the south coast of England.

Speaking in June, Melanie Onn, Grimsby MP, said: “Wind and other renewable energy is where the future lies for Grimsby, and the Humber Gateway project has already provided permanent jobs for local people, as well as work for local contractors. Offshore wind is a crucial part of the UK energy supply, helping us to secure a home-grown energy future and providing clean

power to homes and businesses in Grimsby and beyond. I look forward to working with E.ON on reaching out to young people in the constituency to link renewable jobs to local training and skills.”

SEAPLANNER SOFTWARE It was announced last month that SeaRoc has been awarded the operations and management contract on the Humber Gateway project by E.ON – managing this important phase through its software system, SeaPlanner.

An industry leading marine management system and monitoring tool, which to date has helped with the efficient construction of over 700 UK offshore wind turbines, the SeaPlanner software is an innovative mix of modular, webbased marine management and

monitoring tools which can be customised, allowing the customer to have complete project control and visibility.

Providing E.ON’s operation and management teams with a complete monitoring system, the software includes personnel and vessel tracking, certification management and the latest feature of the software – Induction Manager – which will help to both minimise costs and administration time for personnel and contractors.

Katie Wright, Maintenance Coordinator at E.ON’s Humber Gateway Wind Farm, said: “SeaPlanner has helped us maintain both safety and efficiency. We’ve been impressed with its capabilities and believe it to be a cost-effective solution, making it the preferred choice for the generation phase of Humber Gateway.”

The SeaPlanner software has

Innovative solutions to engineering installation problems.

Specialists in shallow water cable installation services, ICS (Installations) Ltd has been working in the subsea cable installation industry since 1999 when it was set up by founder and CEO, Lloyd Lewis Porter. With more than 23 years of experience within the Cable Installation Industry, Porter made the decision to diversify the business seven years ago, venturing into the windfarm and power cable installation sector.

Providing innovative solutions to installation problems, from shore ends, cable transportation and transfer operations to shallow water cable repair operations - ICS ensures that its systems take into careful consideration the properties of the cables, helping to guarantee that cable integrity is not compromised.

The Atlantic Carrier

Perfectly suited to shallow water cable operations, the Atlantic Carrier has an operating draught of 3.4m which enables her to get much closer to the beach than a conventional cable layer - reducing the length of shore end pull and helping to de-risk the operation.

Designed specifically for Array Cable Installation, the Atlantic Carrier has the capability to carry 400-tons of subsea cable and is able to operate in high current environments.

Augmented with a 6-point Mooring System and a full cable lay spread, this allows her to lay cable both of the Port and Starboard Side.

Recently upgraded to DP2 and DNV classified, the Atlantic Carrier underwent her full five year class dry docking in 2014 and is now ready for five more years of operations with ICS Installations.

Atlantic Carrier in co-operation with Atlantic Marine and Aviation LLP. See www.atlanticmarine.co.uk for full details of Fleet and Capability.

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HUMBER GATEWAY WIND PROJECT been used on the project since April 2012 – providing both personnel and operations management during the construction phase.

With extensive industry insight gathered from the last eight years using offshore data, the innovative software has helped to provide E.ON with an ideal solution for managing both the operations and management for the project.

AN OUTSTANDING SUCCESS ABB was awarded a $15m contract for the design and supply of 2 x 14 km circuits of 132 kV 3-core AC submarine cable, with integrated fibre optics and accessories to connect Humber Gateway to the mainland grid.

TAG Energy Solutions was contracted to provide monopole foundations for the turbine towers of the offshore wind project and DEME (Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering), on behalf of E.ON UK, performed the definitive geotechnical site investigation for Humber Gateway.

Danish wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas, were contracted to provide the 73 V112 3.0MW wind turbines which are equipped with energysaving CoolerTop™ technology, allowing the coolant used in the turbine’s cooling system to be cooled by channelling wind into the radiator – helping to reduce the turbine sound levels.

On the project site, three meteorological masts will be installed to check on the weather conditions and measure the changing wind speeds and with an expected operational lifespan of 40 years based on the length of the Crown Estate lease – the wind turbines are expected to be replaced at 2025 years.

Taking over responsibility for the company’s renewables business earlier this year, Bernhard Reutersberg said: “The rapid completion of this project is an outstanding success. E.ON is well on its way toward making offshore wind power even more competitive and reducing power-generation costs to less than €100 per megawatt-hour. We’re superbly positioned for future auctions in relevant European markets.”

Providing enough electricity for an estimated 170,000 homes on final completion – which,

incidentally, is equivalent to around one and a half times the size of Hull in the UK – Humber Gateway stands as one of the largest offshore wind farms in the UK. Now, with the news that it has generated electricity two months ahead of schedule, this only further cements E.ON’s continued commitment and investment in low-carbon and renewable energy generation, and with further wind farm projects now in the pipeline, it is helping to secure a successful and invaluable future for Britain’s energy infrastructure too

ICS Installations has 17 years in the Subsea Cable Installation Industry with 8 years in wind farm and power cable installation ICS (Installations) Ltd is committed to the objective of providing the best technical solution, engineered to meet the requirements of the project without compromise to the safety of the subsea asset or personnel. The layout of the Atlantic Carrier has been applauded for its safe working deck and work practices of its personnel.

Services include: • • • • • •

Array Cable Installation, Power Cable Repair/Replacement Operations Fibre Optic Shore End Installations Fibre optic shallow water jointing operations Cable Protection Application Equipment Rental

Atlantic Carrier in co-operation with Atlantic Marine and Aviation LLP. See www.atlantic-marine.co.uk for full details of Fleet and Capability.

Web: www.ICS-Installations.com Email: info@ics-installations.com Tel: +44 (0) 7802214444 Address: ICS (Installations) Ltd Maritime House Basin Road North Brighton and Hove East Sussex.

BN41 1WR England

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