08/September/2020                      

Iberdrola, through its subsidiary Scottish Power Renewables, has started up the offshore wind farm, which is one of the three pilot tests of ROMEO Project

The East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm, located in British waters in the North Sea, has come into operation becoming one of the world’s largest of its kind. With an installed capacity of 714 megawatts (MW), the 102 turbines that comprise it are already operational, producing clean energy for 630,000 British homes.

Iberdrola, ROMEO Project’s (Reliable OM decision tools and strategies for high LCoE reduction on offshore wind) consortium leader, is the partner that has started up the offshore wind farm through its subsidiary ScottishPower Renewables. This beginning has been carried out on schedule despite the complex environment generated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In fact, the partner informs that around 20% of the installation of the turbines was carried out during the lockdown period in the United Kingdom, which forced the company and its professionals to change their working methods: smaller boats were fitted out to reduce the crews as much as possible, spaces were created for professionals to avoid contact with people outside the project and specific health protocols were developed, avoiding changes to the teams. Now the offshore wind farm is fully operational, after an investment of £2.5 billion and the generation of 3,500 jobs during its construction.

East Anglia ONE is one of the ROMEO Project’s demo sites where this European initiative backed by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Programme is testing its technological advances and developments. The other two pilot test are Teesside, also in United Kingdom, and Wikinger, in Germany.

This installation is a key installation for the progress of the project and for the achievement of its main goals. Covering the whole value chain of the offshore wind energy industry, the consortium of ROMEO includes several experienced and recognised partners: Siemens Gamesa, RAMBOLL, IBM Research – Zurich, INDRA, BACHMANN Monitoring, LAULAGUN Bearings, UPTIME Engineering, University of Strathclyde and ZABALA Innovation Consulting.