About the project

Reducing the negative effects of climate change by lowering CO2 emissions

The West of Duddon Sands Offshore Wind Farm comprises 108 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 389MW and ensures clean renewable energy for more than 270,000 UK households.
The West of Duddon Sands Offshore Wind Farm is located in the East Irish Sea approximately 14 km from the nearest coast on Walney Island, Cumbria. It is situated nearby our operational wind farms: Barrow, Walney and Ormonde.

An attractive offshore site

The wind farm has an attractive offshore location with excellent wind resources, favourable water depths and grid access relatively close to the shore. The short onshore distance to the grid makes this area particularly suitable for development, construction and operation of an offshore wind farm.

In addition to the site's windy location, the wave and tidal conditions in the East Irish Sea are complex with a tidal difference of 10.2m.

In operation

Onshore construction work for the project began in 2012. Work offshore commenced in 2013 and the wind farm became fully operational in October 2014.

The construction work offshore included installation of foundations and wind turbines, export and array cables, and offshore substation. Onshore, construction work included the onshore substation, as well as grid connection in Heysham, Lancashire, and building brand new bespoke O&M facilities for West of Duddon Sands in Barrow-in-Furness.

All 108 wind turbines used in the project are of the same type; Siemens Wind Power SWP 3.6MW with a 120-metre rotor diameter. This is a three-bladed upwind machine like the vast majority of the wind turbines installed worldwide.

Operation & Maintenance in Barrow

The operation and maintenance facilities are situated at ABP port in Barrow-in-Furness, and include office facilities, warehouse, pontoon for service vessels and a helicopter base.

Benefits

The wind farm will help address one of the biggest threats facing the world - climate change. With a total capacity of 389MW, West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm is set to make a substantial contribution to British renewable energy production.
Approximately 270,000 households or one and a half times the number of households in Cumbria can be provided with clean energy from the wind farm. This makes the project a significant contributer to the domestic UK target of reducing CO2 emissions.
Because of its size, West of Duddon Sands makes a noticeable positive contribution to the problem of global importance, securing clean renewable energy and combating climate change.
The scale of the offshore windfarms currently envisaged in the UK is far larger than in any other country in the world. A wind farm project of this size will contribute significantly to a low carbon future, job creation, and an update of the British energy infrastructure.
About the project
2003
2008
2010
2011
2013
2014
The project was awarded to Morecambe Wind Ltd consisting of Elsam, Eurus Energy and ScottishPower as part of the Round 2 development programme.
According to Section 36 of the Electricity Act, consent was given for the construction and operation of an offshore generating station: Wind turbines; inter-array cables, met masts and offshore substations.
The Joint Operations Agreement between Scottish Power Renewables and DONG Energy was signed.
The final investment decision was made.
The first turbine was erected
Full power was achieved. The inauguration by the former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey.
  • Ørsted
  • Scottish Power Renewables
  • . . .
    The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs, and operates offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, renewable hydrogen and green fuels facilities, and bioenergy plants. Ørsted is recognised on the CDP Climate Change A List as a global leader on climate action and was the first energy company in the world to have its science-based net-zero emissions target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs approx. 8,400 people. Ørsted's shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2023, the group's revenue was DKK 79.3 billion (EUR 10.6 billion).
    ScottishPower Renewables is part of Iberdrola, the largest wind energy company in the world. Our combined onshore and offshore installed capacity, by the end of 2012 was over 14,000MW and we have a substantial development pipeline.
    ScottishPower Renewables is already the largest developer and generator of onshore wind energy in the UK, with one of Europe's largest wind farms at the 539MW Whitelee wind farm.

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