Last turbine installed at EOWDC

UK: The final turbine has been installed at Vattenfall's European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) off the east coast of Scotland.

by Craig Richard 29 May 2018

EOWDC's 11 turbines as seen from Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland (pic credit: Vattenfall UK)

The eleventh MHI Vestas turbine was installed on 26 May, nine weeks after the – the V164-8MW uprated to 8.8MW – was put in place.

Inter-array cabling is also nearing completion, the developer stated, and the 93.2MW demonstration project is due to generate power later this summer.

EOWDC is a demonstration project trialling next-generation technology, Vattenfall stated.

It comprises nine V164 turbines uprated to 8.4MW and two machines with their power rating boosted to 8.8MW through the use of internal power mode, making them the most powerful turbines in commercial deployment.

The 11 turbines are installed on 1,800-tonne  that create a vacuum to secure them to the seabed, removing the need for driving monopiles. It is the first deployment of the technology on a commercial scale.

And they will be connected to the shore via a 66kV cabling system, which has double the capacity of the current 33kV industry standard.

The EOWDC had been repeatedly delayed, mostly due to US President Donald Trump’s . It will be visible from one of Trump’s 17 golf courses.