Race Bank offshore wind farm officially opened

The Race Bank offshore wind farm near Grimsby has been officially opened.

The installation off the North Norfolk coast has a total capacity of 573MW, consisting of 91 Siemens Gamesa 6MW turbines.

Danish renewable developer Orsted holds a 50 per cent stake in the project. The company owns, or has shares in, 10 offshore wind farms around the UK with a combined capacity of 3GW.

The remaining half is split between an infrastructure fund operated by the Australian bank Macquarie (25 per cent), the Sumitomo Corporation (12.5 per cent) and funds advised by the Green Investment Group, Arjun Infrastructure Partners and Gravis Capital Management (12.5 per cent).

Orsted agreed to sell a 50 per cent stake in the project to Macquarie for £1.6 billion in December 2016.

Many of the turbines feature the first blades to come off the production line at the Siemens Gamesa factory in Hull.

The wind farm will be operated by Orsted from its East Coast Hub in Grimsby using a new “state of the art” service operation vessel. Accommodation facilities will allow the ship to remain offshore for extended periods, with technicians working shifts of 14 days on and 14 days off.

Orsted UK managing director Matthew Wright said: “Race Bank is a fantastic infrastructure project and underlines Orsted’s contribution to the UK’s energy transition. It’s also another clear signal of our firm commitment to Grimsby and the Humber, and the UK supply chain for offshore wind.”

“Race Bank is a hugely significant and innovative project, featuring the first ever turbine blades to be made in Hull and becoming our first wind farm in the UK to be operated using a new service operation vessel.”

“Powering over half a million homes every year, Race Bank is another positive step towards delivering the UK’s decarbonised energy system of the future,” he added.