Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm Limited has filed an application to the UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) seeking to make changes to the project’s Development Consent Order (DCO).
Triton Knoll seeks to decrease the permitted gross electrical output capacity of the offshore wind farm from ‘up to 1,200 MW’ to ‘up to 900 MW’ , to decrease the number of permitted wind turbine generators from ‘up to 288’ to ‘up to 90’ , to decrease the number of collector substations from ‘up to 4’ to ‘up to 2’ and to remove the meteorological stations and the option for HVDC substations.
In September 2017, BEIS awarded Triton Knoll a Contract for Difference (CfD) for a generating capacity of 860MW. The project will therefore be constructed based on the parameters of the CfD capacity rather than the consented capacity of 1.2GW, the developer said.
This reduced capacity, together with improvements in the technology, means that the number of turbines and the number and type of substations required to construct the wind farm and deliver the CfD capacity is less than originally envisaged.
The wind farm will comprise 90 MHI Vestas V164-9.5MW turbines installed some 32km off the Lincolnshire coast and 50km off the coast of North Norfolk.
The project is now progressing towards a financial investment decision, expected in mid-2018, with full onshore construction starting shortly after, and offshore construction starting in 2020.
First energy generation could be achieved as early as mid-2021, with the project expected to begin commissioning in 2021. Innogy is the sole owner and developer of the project.