Yet another large-scale offshore wind farm is readying its grid connection. According to Germany-based RWE, wind turbine calibration has wrapped up for the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm, which has an estimated 857 MW in total capacity and is expected to kick off commercial operation in 1Q22.
Situated in the North Sea, the Triton Knoll wind farm houses about 90 9.5 MW Vestas wind turbines and totals more than £2 billion in investments. RWE indicates that the farm will supply enough electricity for 800,000 households. RWE holds an about 59% ownership in Triton Knoll and is primarily responsible for construction, operation, and maintenance going forward. On the other hand, Japan-based KEPCO and J-Power hold 16% and 25% ownership, respectively.
Triton Knoll outputted its first electricity in March 2021, while all turbines were installed at the farm in September of the same year. Triton Knoll is currently conducting trial runs, which entail wind turbine testing and power transmission testing in order to ensure that the farm is capable of transmitting high-voltage electricity once commercial operation commences.
The North Sea is home to various offshore wind farms in Europe, such as the 1.2 GW Orsted Hornsea One and the Forewind Dogger Bank, the latter of which is divided into three phases, the completion of which will result in a total capacity of 3.6 GW. These wind farms are expected to propel Britain towards its goal of installing 40 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, which is a much loftier goal compared to the pre-Brexit target of 30 GW by 2050.
RWE also promises to invest €50 billion by 2030 to raise the installed capacity of renewable energy to 50 GW. Of this amount, £15 billion will be allocated to Britain.
(Image: RWE)