Pacific Orca Loads First Galloper Turbine Parts

Wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) Pacific Orca has arrived to the Peel Ports Great Yarmouth to load Siemens wind turbine components ahead of her first trip to the 336MW Galloper offshore wind farm.

Pacific Orca came to Great Yarmouth from Esbjerg, Denmark, where she underwent mobilisation in preparation for Galloper.

The WTIV will install 56 Siemens 6MW turbines at the site located some 20 miles off the Suffolk coast.

The 161-metre vessel is currently being loaded with nacelles, blades, electrical modules, and the pre-assembled turbine towers at the port's Outer Harbour.

Siemens Wind Power contracted Swire Blue Ocean to provide a WTIV for the Galloper project in November 2015. In August 2016, Siemens chose the Peel Ports Great Yarmouth as the assembly location and installation base for the Galloper project.

The installation of the wind turbines at the site was initially scheduled to start in the early summer but was pushed to May after GeoSea installed the last foundation at the site in late March, two months earlier than planned.

Development and construction of the GBP 1.5 billion Galloper offshore wind farm is led by innogy SE on behalf of the project partners, UK Green Investment Bank (GIB), Siemens Financial Services and Macquarie Capital.