Consultation for Kentish Flats extension
The Kentish Flats wind farm was one of the UK’s earliest Round 1 installations. Photo: Vattenfall
Swedish energy company Vattenfall has revealed details of its plans to extend the Kentish Flats offshore wind farm as it consults the local community and prepares the Statement of Community Consultation document.
This is a requirement of the process of gaining permission for the project from the UK government’s Infrastructure Planning Commission.
The Kentish Flats offshore wind farm, between 8 and 13km off Herne Bay on the north Kent coast, was one of the UK’s earliest Round 1 wind farms, commissioned in 2005. 30 Vestas V90/3.0 turbines produce an output capacity of 90MW. There is no offshore sub-station at the site. Three export cables connect the 33kV turbine voltage output direct to EDF Energy’s sub-station at Herne Bay where it is transformed to the 132kV local grid voltage.
Vattenfall was one of four operators which, in May 2010, were awarded rights by The Crown Estate to increase output at five offshore windfarms in the form of extensions, providing an additional 2GW capacity from existing Round 1 and 2 projects.
The extensions are intended to provide a stable flow of construction projects to the offshore wind industry supply chain in advance of the Round 3 developments. As well as the Kentish Flats extension, Vattenfall was also awarded the right to extend its nearby Thanet Offshore wind farm, currently the world’s largest offshore wind farm. While not completely ruled out in the future, Vattenfall has decided not to proceed with the Thanet extension but is continuing with its plans for the Kentish Flats site.
To be known as Kentish Flats Extension (KFE), Vattenfall is proposing to increase the area of the wind farm from the current 10 km/sq by a further 8 km/sq with the addition of up to 17 extra turbines, each described as ‘around 3MW’ and possibly using the same turbines as already in operation, producing an additional installed capacity of up to 51MW.
The proposed extension will extend the site’s footprint beyond the southern and western sides of the existing perimeter, in water depths of between 3m and 5m. The foundations will extend to around 35m below seabed level, with the turbine hub height being around 80m and overall height to the rotor tips of up to 135m (compared to the currently installed tip height of 115m). In addition to the inter-connecting cables between the turbines, up to two export cables will be laid to the shore at Herne Bay then overland to the site of the current shore sub-station some 2 km inland.
Vattenfall is undertaking an environmental impact assessment as part of the planning process. The community consultation itself included two public information days held locally with the aim of informing as many people as possible about the Kentish Flats extension and to encourage their involvement.
The company plans to complete the Development Consent Order application in August 2011, with award of consent expected in Autumn 2012. Between then and September 2013 final design and procurement is scheduled to take place, with onshore and offshore construction works commencing late in 2013. Commissioning is planned for the third quarter of 2014.
By Peter Barker
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