First power on Walney 2
The first power from the Walney 2 Offshore Windfarm was generated on Thursday 1 November 2011 as turbine F14 was put into operation, and its first power was supplied to the national grid via the Stanah 132kV onshore substation near Blackpool.



Since then, a total of ten turbines have been put into operation, and the next string with a further eight turbines is nearly ready for energisation.

The first power was celebrated with a ‘First power’ cake at the Walney site office.

Each turbine will be able to cover the power consumption of more than 3,100 UK households, and when built, the Walney Offshore Windfarm will cover the consumption of more than 320,000 UK households without any CO2 emission or any other emissions.

Series of test procedures
After the commissioning, the turbines will undergo a series of standard test procedures prior to being handed over to the Walney Operation and Maintenance team in Barrow. The tests include an operating test to demonstrate the turbines' ability to operate autonomously without any faults.
46 array cables have been installed, and five array cables remain to be laid between the wind turbines in the farm.



The last of the two mattresses securing the connection from the mainland to the Isle of Man has successfully been placed by Stemat 82 for the crossing of the BT cable.

O&M building in Barrow-in-Furness
On Ramsden Dock Road in Barrow in Furness, the construction of the new operation and maintenance facilities for the Walney Offshore Windfarm commenced in December 2010, and the construction is now near completion.



The site facilities consist of two buildings; one being an office for administration, welfare and catering and the other being a warehouse/workshop for storage of spare and replacement parts and maintenance of the offshore wind farm. The building is placed adjacent to the new floating pontoon and crane installation already installed alongside the existing dock wall.

Weather is king
All offshore operations are fully dependant on the weather conditions and will require a thorough planning in order to utilise the weather windows suitable for installation activities. Wind and waves will determine the progress in the installation, and the activities in September and October have been influenced by adverse weather conditions.



Both months have given 11 offshore working days, whereas so far, November has been excellent. Last year, the weather allowed only six offshore working days until 17 November; this year, there has already been 12 offshore working days in November.

Sale of transmission assets
On 21 October 2011, Walney Windfarms Limited announced that it has completed the sale of transmission assets of the Walney 1 Offshore Windfarm to Blue Transmission Walney 1 Limited, which is the licensee entity incorporated by the consortium of Macquarie Capital Group Limited and Barclays Integrated Infrastructure Fund, at approx GBP 105 million.
Further information