EN010005: Unaccompanied Inspection of Sites: Note 2 Page 1 Application for Development Consent for Proposed Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm Case Ref: EN010005 Examining Authority’s Record of Unaccompanied Inspection of Sites to Which the Application or Specified Matters Relates Inspection 2: Offshore / Barrow-in-Furness 5 September 2012 Background The visit was undertaken on the morning of 5 September by Examining Inspectors Mr Gideon Amos OBE, Mr Jim Claydon and Mr Rynd Smith, appointed as the Examining Authority for the application for Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm. They were accompanied by other members of the Planning Inspectorate’s National Infrastructure Directorate. The wind turbine generators viewed were as follows: Barrow Offshore Wind Farm Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm Walney Offshore Wind Farm The locations of these facilities were verified by inspection and on-ship navigation systems. The inspection commenced at the onshore Operational and Maintenance (O&M) facility for the Vattenfall Ormonde OWF. A health and safety briefing was provided by a member of Vattenfall staff, who also provided answers to factual questions about the Ormonde facility recorded below. Vattenfall’s pontoon was used to access a charter service vessel provided by Bay Towage, a general-purpose marine service company serving clients in Barrow docks and the surrounding marine area. The weather was sunny with scattered high cloud and good visibility. Wind was from the northwest. Marine conditions enabled all OWF facilities to be approached and viewed at the direction of the inspection participants. A force 4 and rising wind combined with tide conditions required the vessel to be kept under power at all times, preventing impressions of wind turbine noise being obtained free of background noise from the vessel.
Transcript
EN010005: Unaccompanied Inspection of Sites: Note 2 Page 1
Application for Development Consent for Proposed Triton Knoll
Offshore Wind Farm
Case Ref: EN010005
Examining Authority’s Record of Unaccompanied Inspection of Sites to Which the Application or Specified Matters Relates
Inspection 2:
Offshore / Barrow-in-Furness 5 September 2012
Background
The visit was undertaken on the morning of 5 September by Examining Inspectors Mr Gideon Amos OBE, Mr Jim Claydon and Mr Rynd Smith, appointed as the Examining Authority for the application for Triton
Knoll Offshore Wind Farm. They were accompanied by other members of the Planning Inspectorate’s National Infrastructure Directorate.
The wind turbine generators viewed were as follows:
The locations of these facilities were verified by inspection and on-ship navigation systems.
The inspection commenced at the onshore Operational and
Maintenance (O&M) facility for the Vattenfall Ormonde OWF. A health and safety briefing was provided by a member of Vattenfall staff, who also provided answers to factual questions about the Ormonde facility
recorded below. Vattenfall’s pontoon was used to access a charter service vessel provided by Bay Towage, a general-purpose marine
service company serving clients in Barrow docks and the surrounding marine area.
The weather was sunny with scattered high cloud and good visibility.
Wind was from the northwest. Marine conditions enabled all OWF facilities to be approached and viewed at the direction of the inspection
participants. A force 4 and rising wind combined with tide conditions required the vessel to be kept under power at all times, preventing
impressions of wind turbine noise being obtained free of background noise from the vessel.
EN010005: Unaccompanied Inspection of Sites: Note 2 Page 2
Particulars of the Inspection
The inspection proceeded from the Vattenfall O&M facility, via the Port
of Barrow shipping channel to the southeastern point of the Barrow OWF, where a monopile foundation substation platform and monopile
turbines were viewed. The westerly array of turbines was undergoing maintenance and rotors were stationary. A maintenance vessel and a
nacelle hoist were viewed. The remaining turbines were rotating.
Passing to the northeastern point of the Barrow OWF, the visit then proceeded towards the Ormonde OWF, enabling seascape views to
both the Barrow and Ormonde facilities to be obtained at ranges of up to 9.5km of open water and views to the shore to be obtained.
Entering the Ormonde facility close to its southwestern extremity, the
inspection enabled observation of jacket foundation turbines and a jacket foundation substation and emergency accommodation facility. The inspection proceeded through the Ormonde OWF to view a
seascape enclosed by constructed and operating turbines at close range. An individual turbine was approached to 50m, to enable the
location of a vessel in relationship to a typical safety exclusion zone to be appreciated. An impression of turbine noise emissions was
obtained.
The inspection then proceeded to the northwestern extremity of the Ormonde facility to enable the shipping channel between it and the
Walney OWF to be viewed. An observation was taken from the mid point of this channel. Views to the eastern boundary of Walney and
seascapes containing the three OWFs were also observed. The vessel then returned to the Vattenfall O&M facility in the Port of Barrow.
Prior to leaving the Vattenfall facility, stored unused 132kV undersea cable was inspected.
Images and Other Information
Photographs were taken using a Canon Digital IXUS 8515 camera with a 6.2 – 18.6mm zoom lens. The lens was used in its widest setting.
All images reproduced in this note have had their resolution reduced to
200dpi to enable efficient distribution online. No other changes have been made to the images. Whilst the locations from which images were
taken were checked during the visit using the on-ship navigation systems, to ensure that they were taken at relevant distances from
OWFs, the camera did not contain a GPS device and none of the photograph locations were individually recorded by it. The images
provide an impression of the visit and assist the recall of those who attended it. They should not be relied upon to make any precise
assessments.
EN010005: Unaccompanied Inspection of Sites: Note 2 Page 3
EN010005: Unaccompanied Inspection of Sites: Note 2 Page 4
B-1: Barrow OWF southeast
EN010005: Unaccompanied Inspection of Sites: Note 2 Page 5
B-2: Barrow OWF southeast – monopile detail
EN010005: Unaccompanied Inspection of Sites: Note 2 Page 6
Ormonde OWF
Operator: Vattenfall
Data from operator (unless otherwise noted):3 Wind turbine type RePower/5.0 MW
Number installed 30 Total output 150 MW
Expected average annual output 500,000 MWh Rotor diameter n/a4
Hub height n/a4 Total height 153 m (blade zenith)
Weight, blade n/a4 Weight, nacelle n/a4
Weight, tower n/a4 Total weight per wind turbine 661 tonne
Cut-in wind speed 3 m/s Full power output from 13 m/s Cut-out wind speed 30 m/s
Mean wind speed n/a4 Foundation type jacket
Depth of water 15 - 20 m Distance from shore5 approx. 8.5 – 13 km
Distance between wind turbines 500 m (750 m between rows) Other installations 1 substation platform –
jacket foundation Wind farm site area approx. 8.7 km2
Walney OWF
Operator: Walney (UK) Offshore Windfarms Ltd. (Dong Energy / SSE)
Note: Designed as two facilities: Walney 1 (W1) and Walney 2(W2), these are in common ownership / operation, were constructed in parallel and both are now complete.
Data from operator (unless otherwise noted):6
Wind turbine type Siemens/3.6 MW Number installed 102 (W1 51 + W2 51)
Total output 367.2 MW Expected average annual output n/a7
Rotor diameter W1 107 m W2 120 m Hub height W1 83.5 m W2 90 m
3 http://www.vattenfall.co.uk/en/ormonde.htm and oral briefing 4 no published figure available 5 As verified on site. 6 http://www.dongenergy.com/walney/Pages/index.aspx and
http://www.dongenergy.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/wind/walney/Walney_Offshore_Windfarm.pdf 7 Installed for less than 12 months – no published figure available
