Photo Credit : WAM
Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and ScottishPower Renewables have completed the installation of all 95 foundations at the £4 billion East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm off the Suffolk coast in the United Kingdom.
The milestone also includes the installation of 95 transition pieces, each measuring 20 metres high and eight metres in diameter, with a weight of more than 400 tonnes.
The monopile foundations weigh between 1,200 and 1,800 tonnes, stand between 67 and 84 metres tall and measure up to 10.6 metres in diameter. According to the developers, they are the largest monopiles installed from a jack-up vessel in Europe.
Turbine installation is already under way, with more than half of the project’s 95 turbines now installed. Each turbine features 115-metre blades, described as the largest manufactured and deployed in the UK.
Offshore and onshore construction will continue over the coming months, with the 1.4-gigawatt project expected to become fully operational by the end of 2026.
Husain Al Meer, Executive Director of Global Offshore Wind and UK at Masdar, described the completion of the foundation programme as a significant engineering achievement that reflects the strength of the company’s partnership with ScottishPower and the expertise of the project team and contractors.
“East Anglia THREE is Masdar’s first 50:50 offshore wind joint venture in the UK and forms an important part of our long-term commitment to the UK offshore wind industry,” Al Meer said.
He added that offshore wind would play an essential role in meeting accelerating electricity demand while delivering affordable, domestically generated power at scale.
ScottishPower Renewables CEO Charlie Jordan said the installation involved anchoring more than 200,000 tonnes of steel across a seabed area equivalent to almost 43,000 football pitches.
Jordan said the project would generate renewable electricity for millions of homes while supporting economic growth through nearly £2 billion invested in the UK supply chain, thousands of construction jobs and around 100 permanent positions during the wind farm’s operational life.
Seaway7 delivered the foundation installation using its jack-up vessel, Seaway Ventus. East Anglia THREE was the first foundation installation campaign completed by the vessel.
Seaway7 CEO Lloyd Duthie said the company would continue installing inter-array cables, bringing the project closer to supplying clean and reliable electricity to more than one million UK homes.
East Anglia THREE is the second project developed under Masdar and Iberdrola’s €15 billion strategic partnership and Masdar’s first UK project with ScottishPower.
UK supply-chain contributions include foundation design by Wood Thilsted, turbine-blade manufacturing at Siemens Gamesa’s factory in Hull, vessel charters from Norfolk-based NR Marine Services and OEG, and technical support from metocean and seabed consultancy Partrac.
The offshore wind farm is supporting around 2,300 jobs during construction and is expected to create approximately 100 long-term roles in the East of England.
Once operational, East Anglia THREE will generate enough clean electricity to power more than 1.3 million homes while strengthening the UK’s energy security.
