The substation for West of Duddon Sands (WoDS) has been installed. Fabricated earlier this year, its installation was completed in two phases. First the jacket foundation was installed then the topside was placed on it. The crane barge Rambiz was deployed.
The substation will link 108 Siemens 3.6MW turbines via an inter-array cable system. From there, two export cables will take electricity to the onshore substation at Heysham and into the UK national grid.
WoDS is a 50/50 joint venture between DONG Energy and ScottishPower Renewables. It is under development in the Irish Sea, off the coast of Cumbria.
Henrik Scheinemann, programme director at DONG Energy, said the substation installation marked "the real start of offshore construction on the West of Duddon Sands project."
He added: "Over the coming months, foundations and transition pieces will start to be installed on-site, so it’s going to be a busy and exciting time for everyone involved". The 389MW project is due for completion in 2014.
