Walney Wind Farm

Walney Wind Farm
Walney Wind Farm under construction in 2011
Map
Country
  • United Kingdom
Location14km west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria
Coordinates54°02′38″N 3°31′19″W / 54.044°N 3.522°W / 54.044; -3.522
StatusOperational
Construction began2010
Commission date2011 (phase 1)
March 2012 (phase 2)
September 2018 (extension)
Owner(s)
Wind farm
Type
Rotor diameter107 m; 120 m; 154 m; 164 m
Site area
  • 73 km2 (28 sq mi)
Power generation
Units operational102 × 3.6 MW
47 × 7 MW
40 × 8.25 MW
Make and modelMHI Vestas V164-8.25MW (40)
Siemens Gamesa SWT-3.6-107 (51)
Siemens Gamesa SWT-3.6-120 (51)
Siemens Gamesa SWT-7.0-154 (47)
Nameplate capacity367 MW (phase 1 and 2)
659 MW (extension)
1,026 MW (total)
Capacity factor
  • 40 %
  • 43 %
Annual net output
  • 1,300 GWh
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]
Map
Wind farm layout

Walney Wind Farms are a group of offshore wind farms 9 miles (14 km) west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria, England, in the Irish Sea. The group, operated by Ørsted[1] (formerly Dong Energy), consists of Walney Phase 1, Phase 2 and the Walney Extension. The extension has a capacity of 659 MW[2] and it was the world's second largest offshore wind farm in 2018.[2]

The wind farms were developed by Walney (UK) Offshore Windfarms Limited, a partnership between DONG Energy and Scottish and Southern Energy.[3] The farms, which are immediately northwest of the West of Duddon Sands Wind Farm and west of Ormonde Wind Farm, are in water depths ranging from 19m to 23m and cover an area of approximately 73 km2.

Both of the first phases have 51 turbines giving a nameplate capacity of 367 MW.[4] Until September 2012 it was the world's largest operational offshore wind farm, and regained this title when the expansion completed in September 2018.[5][2] The first two phases were expected to generate about 1,300 GW·h/year of electricity, with a load factor of 43%.[6][7] The Walney Extension opened in September 2018 with a further 87 turbines capable of generating 659 megawatts.[8] And the area reaches 145 km2.

  1. ^ The World's Biggest Offshore Wind Farm Is Here Archived 2018-09-06 at the Wayback Machine fortune.com, 6 September 2018. Accessed: 6 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "World's largest offshore windfarm opens off Cumbrian coast". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  3. ^ "DONG Energy Project website". Archived from the original on 15 January 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  4. ^ "UKWED Offshore wind farms". RenewableUK. Archived from the original on 19 March 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  5. ^ World's biggest offshore wind farm opens off Britain as new minister admits high cost Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine The Telegraph, 9 February 2012. Accessed: 9 February 2012.
  6. ^ announcement on Walney Offshore Wind Farm Archived 2012-03-23 at the Wayback Machine by DONG Energy . Accessed: 14 February 2012.
  7. ^ announcement on Walney Offshore Wind Farm by SSE. Accessed: 14 February 2012.
  8. ^ Walney Extension - 4C Offshore Archived 2018-09-08 at the Wayback Machine, 30 June 2018. Accessed: 8 September 2018.