Following completion of 240-hour acceptance tests of all 91 wind turbines and a 200-hour test of the full project, the Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm is now capable of generating its full capacity of 573 MW, Ørsted has announced.
Installation of the wind turbines at Race Bank first began in May 2017. During the commissioning process of the final wind turbines, Race Bank also passed 1 TWh of production since construction began.
“Full power and 1 TWh of production are two fantastic milestones and have been achieved by the hard work and dedication of a significant number of people. Full power means that Race Bank can now produce enough green energy to power over half a million U.K. homes,” comments David Summers, project director. “Not only have we achieved full power on schedule, but we’ve also done so safely without compromising our high standards. I’m now looking forward to completing final activities on Race Bank and being able to officially open the project in the summer.”
Race Bank uses 91 Siemens Gamesa 6 MW wind turbines. It is owned by Ørsted (50%), Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 (25%), Macquarie Capital (12.5%) and Sumitomo Corp. (12.5%). The wind farm is located approximately 16.8 miles off Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk coast and 17.4 miles off the Lincolnshire coast at Chapel St Leonards.
