Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm is a
Round 2 wind farm in
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
off the coast of Norfolk. A lease for use of the sea bed was obtained in 2004 by Scira Offshore Energy (later acquired by Statoil (now
Equinor
Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger. It is primarily a petroleum company, operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy. I ...
) and
Statkraft), the development gained offshore planning consent in 2008, and was constructed 2009–2011, being officially opened in 2012.
The wind farm has 88
Siemens Wind Power
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...
3.6MW turbines (total power 316.8 MW) spread over a area over from shore.
History
In 2004 the
Crown Estate
The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priv ...
awarded Econventures (Utrecht, NL) the lease of the
Round 2 wind farm site at Sheringham shoal.
Econventures together with SLP Energy (Lowestoft, UK) formed a joint venture ''Scira Offshore Energy'' to develop a c. 315MW wind farm. Development work for Econventures was to be carried out by Evelop BV, both subsidiaries of
Econcern BV.
In 2005
Hydro
Hydro from Ancient Greek word ὕδωρ (húdōr), meaning ''water''.
Hydro may also refer to:
Energy technologies
* Water-derived power or energy:
** Hydropower, derived from water
** Hydroelectricity, in electrical form
* "Hydro", AC mains ...
took a 50% stake in Scira, acquiring 25% shareholdings from both SLP Energy and Ecocentures.
In 2006 Scira submitted a planning application to the
Department of Trade and Industry for a 108 turbine, 315 MW wind farm.
The planned wind farm was approximately off the coast of Norfolk at
Sheringham
Sheringham (; population 7,367) is an English seaside town within the county of Norfolk, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East''. . The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban Distr ...
, just within the 12 nm UK territorial water boundary, and north of the
sand bank
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. I ...
known as Sheringham shoal. The wind farm would be located at water depths of and consist of somewhere between 45 and 108 turbines. Benefits of the site included low shipping and trawling intensities; lack of any dredging, dumping, oil/gas, or MoD practice areas, and of cables or pipelines; as well as low visual impact from the coast, and outside any nature conservation areas. The seabed at the wind farm and offshore cable route consisted of mainly gravely sand, overlying chalk. The electrical power export cable was to be connected to a switching station near
Muckleburgh Collection, via landfall near
Weybourne Hope. Two routes were considered for the export cable, one avoiding the sandbank at Sheringham shoal. The connection to the
National Grid was planned to be made at an electrical substation near
Salle, Norfolk
Salle ( ) is a small village and civil parish in the Broadland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. to the south is the market town of Reepham.
The name, pronounced ''Saul'', derives from "Sallow Wood" — ''sallow'' referring to wil ...
via a 132kV underground cable.
Planning consent for the wind farm was given on 8 August 2008.
In 2009
Statkraft acquired 50% of the shareholding in Scira becoming joint (50:50) owners of the development. In 2014 the
Green Investment Bank
Green Investment Group Limited (GIG) is a specialist in green infrastructure principal investment, project delivery and the management of portfolio assets, and related services.
The business was launched initially by the UK government in 2012 a ...
took a £240 million 20% stake in the wind farm.
The lease on the sea bed given by the Crown Estate has a duration of 50 years, and the (initial) wind farm has an estimated lifespan of 20 years. The
2004 Energy Act requires the developer to decommission the wind farm once out of use - the decommissioning plan submitted by the developer included: removal of wind turbines, cutting of foundations at seabed level or lower, whilst interarray cables would be left on the sea bed.
Construction
In April 2008
Nexans was awarded a €24m contract for the supply and construction of the 145kV export cables,
and was awarded a €12m ($15.8m) contract in April 2009 to supply 81 km of 36kV inter-array cables.
Areva obtained a €50 million contract to supply offshore and onshore substations in late 2008,
design and project management of the offshore substations was sub-contracted to
Wood Group
John Wood Group plc, commonly known as Wood, is a British multinational engineering and consulting business with headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange as well as being a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. ...
.
Design work on the turbine and substation foundations was contracted to
Ramboll.
The two foundations for the substations and foundations for 88 turbines were supplied by
MT Højgaard
MT Højgaard Group is one of the leading construction and civil engineering companies in the Nordic countries. The Group works with customers throughout Denmark and in multiple countries overseas. The company was founded in 2001, when Højgaard & ...
.
Manufacture of the turbine monopiles and transition pieces was subcontracted to
Sif Group and
Smulders Smulders is a Dutch occupational surname. It is a compression of "des mulders", meaning "the miller's son". Notable people with this surname include:
* Ans Smulders (born 1951), Dutch artistic gymnast
* (1863–1934), Dutch composer, pianist and n ...
. The substation superstructure and foundations were subcontracted to
Heerema (topside),
Bladt Industries
Bladt Industries A/S is an international steel contractor specialising in large-scale and highly complex steel structures. Bladt Industries operate within three key areas of business providing steel solutions for the wind and renewable energy sec ...
(transition pieces) and
Sif Group and
Smulders Smulders is a Dutch occupational surname. It is a compression of "des mulders", meaning "the miller's son". Notable people with this surname include:
* Ans Smulders (born 1951), Dutch artistic gymnast
* (1863–1934), Dutch composer, pianist and n ...
(piles). In 2009
Siemens obtained a €450 million contract to supply 88 wind turbines to the wind farm.
Onshore work began in 2009,
and construction of the offshore part began March 2010.
Turbine foundations installation began in June 2010;
MT Højgaard installed the substation piles and 17 of the turbine foundations, using the vessel ''Svanen'', halting installation due to a previously scheduled contract for the installation vessel.
The foundations installed by MT Højgaard used a special method: the support of the foundation on the delivery barge had its motion steadied by a 135t sliding support with
hydraulic motor
A hydraulic motor is a mechanical actuator that converts hydraulic pressure and flow into torque and angular displacement (rotation). The hydraulic motor is the rotary counterpart of the hydraulic cylinder as a linear actuator. Most broadly, ...
s compensating for wave oscillations.
Delays of several months of the arrival of foundation transport vessels, coupled with wave conditions limiting the operational window of use of the transport vessels, meant that the vessel Svanen was not able to install all the foundations. The delay had an estimated additional cost of 600 million NOK.
Export cable installation began late 2010, under contract to Visser & Smith Marine Contracting. Work was carried out by the ships ''Atlantic Guardian'' (route clearance), ''Team Oman'' (laying), and ''VOS Sympathy'' (trenching).
The offshore substations were installed in May 2011 by Heerema.
The remaining pile foundations, and the transition pieces and offshore substation topsides where installed by Seaway Heavy Lifting between May and August 2011 using the newly built ''Oleg Strashnov''.
A previous contract with
Master Marine for the substation installation was cancelled and transferred to Seaway due to the delays.
Foundation and transition piece installation was complete by August 2011.
Inter-array cables were laid by ''Team Oman'', and installed under the sea bed by water jetting by ''Toisa Warrior''. Installation was complete by March 2012.
The turbine installation was contracted to
Gulf Marine Services in December 2010, the initial contract with
Master Marine was terminated by mutual agreement after the foundation installation delays.
Turbine installation was carried out by the
jackup vessels ''Sea Jack''and ''GMS Endeavour'', with SEA JACK replaced by ''Sea Jack Leviathan'' in late 2011.
The first turbine was installed on 3 July 2011,
and began generating in August 2011;
installation was complete by July 2012.
Operations bases
As part of the development, the harbour and channel at
Wells Harbour was dredged to allow wind-farm maintenance vessels to be based there. A pontoon jetty was also built; the work was completed early 2010.
An onshore operations base was constructed at
Egmere, 3 miles south of
Wells-next-the-Sea
Wells-next-the-Sea is a port town on the north coast of Norfolk, England.
The civil parish has an area of and in 2001 had a population of 2,451,Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Census population and household c ...
, with building work taking place in 2012.
Operation
![Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Sheringham_Shoal_Offshore_Wind_Farm.jpg)
The wind farm was operational by late 2011.
An official opening took place on September 27, 2012, attended by Norway's
Crown Prince Haakon
Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway (; Haakon Magnus; born 20 July 1973) is the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne. He is the only son of King Harald V and Queen Sonja.
Haakon represents the fourth generation of the sitting Norwegian royal fa ...
and UK Secretary of State
Ed Davey
Sir Edward Jonathan Davey (born 25 December 1965) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 ...
.
The cost of development has been estimated at 10billion Norwegian krona ($1.8 billion).
Wells Harbour is used as the operational base for the wind farm.
In June 2013 a consortium, "Blue Transmission" (
Macquarie Capital Group,
Barclays Infrastructure Funds) acquired the electrical transmission assets of the wind farm for £193 million.
In August 2013
Statkraft took over operations and maintenance of the wind farm from Scira.
Statoil took over operation from Statkraft, beginning in 2017, while also increasing its share in the proposed
Dogger Bank Wind Farm
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a group of offshore wind farms under construction off the east coast of Yorkshire, England in the North Sea.
It was developed by the Forewind consortium, while three phases were envisioned - first phase (Creyke Beck ...
.
By September 2013 the wind farm had generated 1.2TWh in its first year of operation.
Its
levelised cost
The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), or levelized cost of energy, is a measure of the average net present cost of electricity generation for a generator over its lifetime. It is used for investment planning and to compare different methods ...
has been estimated at £150/MWh.
Community Fund
The Sheringham Shoal windfarm operates a community benefit fund supporting local charities and community projects. Since its establishment in 2010, the Fund has made grant awards totalling £881,642. The Fund is operated by Norfolk Community Foundation.
See also
*
Wind power in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is the best location for wind power in Europe and one of the best in the world. By 2022, the UK had over 11 thousand wind turbines with a total installed capacity of over 25gigawatts (GW): 14 GW onshore and 11 GW offshore, t ...
*
List of offshore wind farms
This article lists the largest offshore wind farms that are currently operational rated by nameplate capacity. It also lists the largest offshore wind farms currently under construction, the largest proposed offshore wind farms, and offshore w ...
*
List of offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom StrikeOpt
This is a list of offshore wind farms within the national maritime boundaries of the United Kingdom. The name of the wind farm is the name used by the energy company when referring to the farm; it is usually related to the name of the ...
*
References and notes
Sources
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External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm
Sheringham
Wind farms in England
Offshore wind farms in the North Sea
Buildings and structures in Norfolk
Equinor
Round 2 offshore wind farms
Power stations in the East of England
Statkraft
Energy infrastructure completed in 2012
2012 establishments in England