All possible weather windows are used to ensure progress in the commissioning of the wind farm. As of 20 February, 27 turbines in Walney 2 have had first power, and all periods with reasonable weather are used to bring the turbines in operation.
Tideway Rollingstone has also used weather windows in installation of armour stones for scour protection and has almost finished the remaining positions in Walney 1 as well as 10 positions in Walney 2.
Due to a minor fire late February 2011 onboard the vessel Pompei, it had to stop placing armour stones for scour protection around approximately 16 positions in Walney 1; a work, which Tideway Rollingstone now has undertaken.
The Walney Offshore Windfarms project is located approximately 15km west of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. The project consists of Walney 1 and Walney 2 each with 51 – 3.6MW turbines, giving a total capacity of the Walney project of 367.2MW. The rotor diameter of the turbines is 107m for Walney 1 and 120m for Walney 2, with a maximum height of 150m from blade tip to sea level. The total area of the development is some 73km2.
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Offshore WIND staff, February 20, 2012; Image: dongenergy