Navantia has completed the construction of the East Anglia ONE offshore substation (topside), which is scheduled to set sail from the shipyard at Puerto Real in Spain in early August and arrive at the UK construction site in early September.
The Spanish shipbuilder officially delivered the substation to Iberdrola, the developer of East Anglia ONE, at a ceremony held on 3 July at the Puerto Real shipyard, where the substation was christened as Andalucía II.
The name follows Navantia’s previously delivered offshore substation (Andalucía) to Iberdrola that was installed on the Wikinger offshore wind farm in Germany.
According to Navantia, Andalucía II is the largest AC offshore substation ever to be fabricated and allowed for creating 420 local jobs as Navantia and 30 specialised ancillary companies around the Bay of Cadiz participated in its construction that lasted for 16 months.
Present at the delivery and naming event on 3 July were José Esteban García Vilasánchez, Chairman of Navantia, Ignacio Galán, Chairman of Iberdrola and Susana Díaz, Head of Analusia’s regional government who christened the substation.
Andalucía II will collect the electricity generated by the wind turbines and transform the supply voltage from 66kV to 220 kV. Power will then be carried by the export cable to land, thus minimising losses along the route.
Over the next few months, piles, jacket foundation and, finally, the topside will be installed on site alongside the rest of the wind turbine jackets.
East Anglia One will be commissioned in 2020 and will produce enough clean energy to power the consumption of nearly 600,000 UK homes.