Developer RWE Renewables UK has hired energy services provider Kent PLC to plan a high-voltage offshore substation platform for the Five Estuaries Offshore Wind Farm off the Suffolk and Essex coast.
The Five Estuaries project is an extension to the Galloper Offshore Wind Farm, which has been generating power since 2017 – enough to supply approximately 444,000 UK homes. The extension will be built 37 km off the Suffolk and Essex coastline and is expected to be operational from 2031.
National Grid Electricity Transmission, owner and operator of the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales, has proposed installing an offshore grid connection in the region that will connect to undersea cable Sea Link as part of National Grid’s ‘Great Grid Upgrade’.
The overhaul of the national grid will involve implementing an undersea cable between Suffolk and Kent that is expected to benefit nearby offshore wind farms being developed by RWE, such as the Five Estuaries project and the North Falls extension to the Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm’s southern array.
Kent PLC will conduct a concept design study for the offshore substation platform at Five Estuaries. The company said it will provide an Offshore Substation Topside concept design and assessment and concept design for the support structure foundation.
The expansion of wind capacity off the Suffolk and Essex coast will support the UK government’s goal of powering every home in the UK with offshore wind within the next decade, the company said.
The Five Estuaries wind farm is expected to provide power to hundreds of thousands more homes in the UK once it is operational, adding to 353 MW of wind energy capacity at the existing Galloper Offshore Wind Farm, located 30 km off the coast.
The £1.5 billion Galloper Offshore Wind Farm is part-owned by RWE Renewables, which is also the primary developer, together with private investment from Siemens Financial Services, Equitix, ESB and Sumitomo Corporation fund Spring Infrastructure Capital.
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