The Gunfleet Sands Wind Farm is a 184 MW wind farm operating off the Essex coast at the North Sea, near the Outer Thames. The farm is connected to the National Grid via the Veolia Water site and Cooks Green Substation.
The project also saw Siemens’ testing and piloting their 6 MW platform wind turbine. Before this project, Siemens installed a 6 MW capacity turbine in an offshore wind project in Høvsøre, Denmark, two years earlier in 2011.
It is the only Clacton wind farm to operate in the area and provides as much as 520 gigawatt-hours to the local grid.
Where is the Gunfleet Sands Wind Farm
The onshore cable of the first two phases goes through the Holland Haven marshes, a site of scientific interest, before linking to the Cooks Green substation. The project is located in Essex county, 7 kilometers southeast of Clacton-on-sea. It is north of London Array, Kentish Flats, and Thanet Wind Farms. The mentioned wind farms are north of Kent County, which like Essex, are home counties that enclose London.
These four wind farms are near the Outer Thames area and Northern Thames estuary, a significant area for shipping and logistics. The Outer Thames is also known for its sandbanks, making it appropriate for fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines. These wind farms connect to the national grid, with Gunfleet closest to the shoreline.
In September 2019, Gunfleet sands wind farm operations base moved to the Ørsted headquarters called the East Coast Hub at the Port of Grimsby – also known as Ørsted Grimsby. The East Coast hub is where the North Sea wind farms of the company are maintained and monitored, together with Westermost Rough, Lincs, and Race Bank wind farms.
The offshore wind farm site is a boat ride away at 10 km from the coastline, which is within the 12 nautical miles territorial shelf of the UK. As per international law, a territorial shelf of a country is within the sovereign rights of the state without basis on decree or occupation.
Who owns Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm?
GE wind energy acquired the planning consent in 2003 and 2004 for the first phase and conducted initial assessments, plus the environmental permit to lay underground cables passing through Holland Haven Marshes. Today, the wind farm is owned by Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy), Marubeni Corporation, and Development Bank of Japan, with a 50.1%, 24.95%, and 24.95% stake ownership, respectively. GE wind energy sold the entire project and its rights to Ørsted in December 2006.
In 2017, Ørsted submitted the environmental assessment statement to DTI and the Marine and Fisheries Agency, allowing the project to move forward.
Marubeni corporation bought a 49.9% stake in the project from Ørsted in 2011 and signed off on the transaction in November of the same year. Since 2013, Marubeni corporation has sold a 24.95% stake to the Development Bank of Japan. The move enabled the company to explore offshore wind energy generation globally with DBJ.
The transmission assets of the offshore wind farm were sold to TC Gunfleet Sands OFTO Ltd. on July 19, 2011, for a sum of £49.5m.
Is the Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm project a Crown Estate initiative?
The project is part of the effort of Crown Estate to help the UK provide enough clean, renewable energy and achieve the recently expanded domestic UK target of 50 GW offshore wind capacity by 2030. Today, the installed capacity of the UK offshore wind farms is 10 GW.
How large is the Gunfleets Sands Offshore Wind Farm project?
The total area of the three phases is 18.5 square km.–10 square km. for phase 1, 7.5 square km. for phase 2, and 1 square km. for the third phase.
The two phases and the third phase demonstration project have a combined total of 184 MW of installed capacity.
When is the first power of Gunfleet Sands Wind Farm?
Gunfleet sands wind farm 1 and 2 reached their first power in August 2009. Almost a year later, it was in full commercial operations by June 2010.
How much power will the project produce?
The project is expected to produce around 500 gigawatt-hours of wind power a year, based on 2012 data. The wind farm has 184 MW of installed capacity, including the first two phases and the third test project.
The offshore substation shifts the voltage from 33 kV to 132 kV before the underwater power cables reach the Essex coast. The map shows how the offshore export cable landfalls at Holland Haven at the Clacton on the sea coast and then the dedicated power cables connect to Cooks Green substation.
The third phase links to a different substation at Waterglade Retail Park after the export cables landfall at the Martello Bay Coach, Essex County.
In 2022, since it began operations in 2011, it has had a total production of 6.5 terawatt-hours of electricity for the national grid, for an average of 558 gigawatt-hours a year. This production puts it in 22nd place amongst all offshore UK wind farms.
How much did the offshore wind farm cost?
The capital invested in the wind farm project is £340 million.
Is it a fixed or floating foundation?
The turbines are lodged on 75-meter fixed monopile foundations, which were embedded in the seabed for as deep as 40 meters by sub-contractor Ballast Nedam Offshore Energy. The offshore wind farm is located in a relatively shallower area, where the depths of the sea adjust from as low as 2 meters to as deep as 15 meters.
Gunfleet Sands Turbines
Turbines are an essential part of a wind farm. They convert renewable wind energy into electricity. Then, it is sent to the grid and used to power homes and businesses.
| Gunfleet Sands Phase | Number of Turbines | Turbine Model | Turbine Capacity | Total Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 30 | Siemens | 3.6 MW | 108 MW |
| Phase 2 | 18 | Siemens | 3.6 MW | 64.8 MW |
| Phase 3 | 2 | Siemens | 6.0 MW | 12 MW |
| Gunfleet Sands Total | 50 | Siemens | 3.7 MW (average) | 184.8 MW |
How many turbines per phase?
The first phase consisted of 30 turbines, the second one used 18, and the third development phase only used 2 turbines.
Who makes the turbines?
Siemens wind power supplied all of the 50 turbines in the 3-phase project.
What is the turbine model?
The first two phases used the 3.6 MW model, and the last phase used the 6.0 MW model.
The 6 MW turbines were a new technology and test that proved successful.
Wind Farm Expansion Plans
A two-turbine demonstration project started commercial operation in 2013 to test the Siemens 6 MW platform.
In 2022, the partnership of Ørsted and Siemens has blossomed into a 2.7 gigawatt installed capacity throughout different projects globally.