The warm spring sun smiled on the participants on the quay in Barrow, when they celebrated the beginning of the construction process of Walney Offshore Windfarm on 10 March. Before a group of invited guests, Rory McClure, deputy mayor symbolically cut the red ribbon which marked "the groundbreaking" of the Walney project.

In honour of the occasion, the site office on the quay had been converted to a festive meeting place and Jens Hansen, Project Manager, welcomed the 70 guests on behalf of the Walney project and gave them an introduction to the project:

"Today is a very important day which proves that all the hard work performed during the past seven years has produced results. All efforts made to ensure approval and completion of contracts in connection with the project are now materialised. However, much work still remains to be done, but today is an important milestone for the project. Now, we can start constructing one of the Worlds largest offshore wind farm to date."

102 turbines in two years
For the past seven years, we have been working on preparing the Walney project for the construction phase and 102 turbines will be erected over the next two years. The work will be carried out in two phases under considerable time pressure and the weather situation will play a significant role. The size of the turbines is impressive - 137 metres from sea level to the blade tip and the height of the Walney 2 turbines will be 150 metres. In comparison, the height of London Eye is 135 metres. It is expected that the first turbine will be erected by 15 July and first power from Walney should be available in October 2010.

The Walney 2 construction phase will be even more compressed because two foundation vessels and two erection vessels will be operating at the same time to erect the 51 turbines simultaneously in 2011.

Working on the climate problem in a stormy climate
On behalf of the owners, DONG Energy (74.9 %) and Scottish and Southern Energy (25.1 %), Jens W. Bonefeld, DONG Energy's Head of Construction in Renewables, wished the region, the suppliers and the project good luck with the construction work. In his speech to the guests, he stressed the overall importance of wind power in connection with the reduction of CO2-emission and continued:

"DONG Energy has an 85/15 ambition, entailing that we must produce electricity, emitting six times less CO2 than today and one of the means for achieving this is to continue developing wind power. However, the project also faces a very specific and present climate challenge, ie the weather conditions just off the coast of Barrow in the stormy Irish Sea where the turbines will be erected over the next two years."

The project matches Barrow's industry profile
Rory McClure, deputy mayor of Barrow welcomed the Walney project on behalf of the town council in his speech. Barrow has already a strong industrial cluster. We build submarines and many other things and the wind farm project fits well into our plan for development of the area and the wind farm will strengthen our position as a technological centre."



With these words, he wished the project good luck and then cut the red ribbon, symbolising "the groundbreaking".