West Duddon wind farm
Encyclopedia
West Duddon Wind Farm also known as West of Duddon Sands wind farm (WoDS) is a proposed offshore wind farm
to be located 14km south west of Walney Island
off the coast of Cumbria
, in the Irish Sea
, England
. It is being developed by Morecombe Wind Ltd, a partnership between Scottish Power
, Dong Energy
and Eurus Energy
. The farm gets its name from a large sand bank uncovered at low water in the mouth of the estuary of the River Duddon
to the north of the Barrow-in-Furness
Peninsula. The farm is somewhat to the south west of the Sands and will cover an area of approximately 66 sq km.
In 2004 Morecombe Wind was awarded a 50 year lease from The Crown Estate to develop a wind farm at West Duddon as part of the second UK offshore wind farm tendering process known as "Round 2".
The project includes constructing the wind turbines and their foundations, building offshore substations, installing power cables both undersea and onshore, as well as an extension to the existing onshore Electrical substation
to house the equipment needed for connection into the UK National Grid. This work is estimated to take about 2 years.
The wind farm planning application was filed in April 2006 and consent was granted in September 2008. The application was for between 83 and 139 turbines
with a nameplate capacity of 500 MW. However permission was granted for only 108 turbines due to geological siting issues. This will provide up to 389 MW of power.
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
to be located 14km south west of Walney Island
Walney Island
The Isle of Walney, also known as Walney Island, is an island in the United Kingdom which lies off the west coast of England, at the northern tip of Morecambe Bay. It forms part of the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, and it is separated from the mainland at Barrow by Walney Channel, a narrow channel...
off the coast of Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, in the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is being developed by Morecombe Wind Ltd, a partnership between Scottish Power
Scottish Power
ScottishPower Ltd. is a vertically integrated energy company with its headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but in 2006 it became a subsidiary of the Spanish utility Iberdrola...
, Dong Energy
DONG Energy
-History:The Danish state company Dansk Naturgas A/S was founded in 1972 to manage resources in the Danish sector of the North Sea. After some years, the company was renamed to Dansk Olie og Naturgas A/S . At the beginning of 2000s, DONG started to extend itself into the electricity market by...
and Eurus Energy
Eurus Energy
Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation is a holding company of the Eurus Energy Group, Japan's largest wind power developer. Eurus Energy is a joint venture of the Tokyo Electric Power Company and Toyota Tsusho Corporation and is headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo...
. The farm gets its name from a large sand bank uncovered at low water in the mouth of the estuary of the River Duddon
River Duddon
The Duddon is a river of north-west England. It rises at a point above sea level near the Three Shire Stone at the highest point of Wrynose Pass . The river descends to the sea over a course of about before entering the Irish Sea at the Duddon Sands. For its entire length the Duddon forms the...
to the north of the Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
Peninsula. The farm is somewhat to the south west of the Sands and will cover an area of approximately 66 sq km.
In 2004 Morecombe Wind was awarded a 50 year lease from The Crown Estate to develop a wind farm at West Duddon as part of the second UK offshore wind farm tendering process known as "Round 2".
The project includes constructing the wind turbines and their foundations, building offshore substations, installing power cables both undersea and onshore, as well as an extension to the existing onshore Electrical substation
Electrical substation
A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions...
to house the equipment needed for connection into the UK National Grid. This work is estimated to take about 2 years.
The wind farm planning application was filed in April 2006 and consent was granted in September 2008. The application was for between 83 and 139 turbines
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
with a nameplate capacity of 500 MW. However permission was granted for only 108 turbines due to geological siting issues. This will provide up to 389 MW of power.