npower renewables is pushing ahead with construction of Rhyl Flats wind farm. All 25 foundations have been installed and cable installation work will commence in August 2008, followed by turbine installation in October 2008. This multi contract project is being managed by a dedicated in-house project team based in North Wales.

Robin Rigg is owned and will be operated by E.ON Climate and Renewables, and is currently one of the largest offshore wind farms in construction in UK waters. The wind farm consists of sixty 3 MW wind turbines supplied by Vestas Offshore UK Limited which will meet the electricity needs of 117,000 homes and displace 235,000 tons of greenhouse gases every year when fully operational. Construction of the wind farm is being managed by E.ON on a multi-contract basis, and commenced in early 2007. The wind farm is due to enter operation in summer 2009.

Evelop is part of Econcern, an international company with the mission to provide ‘a sustainable energy supply for everyone’. With more than 5,000 megawatts, the company has one of the largest portfolios of renewable energy assets worldwide. Evelop is involved in developing, realising, owning and operating projects in fields such as offshore and onshore wind, biomass and solar energy as well as seawater air conditioning, utility buildings and housing with integrated sustainable energy supply solutions. Evelop aims to realise one offshore wind project every year.

The move by wind energy to offshore, where the winds are stronger and the turbines are less likely to interfere with the surrounding landscape, involves unique technical considerations during the project’s development. The complexity of offshore wind farm projects is amplified by multiple key stakeholders such as designers, manufacturers, developers, investors and regulatory bodies, each inevitably focusing on their own areas of interest during project development.

Vattenfall is the largest Nordic wind power generator, and one of the biggest players in Europe. Vattenfall currently generates 1,200 GWh of electricity annually from over 500 wind turbines in Denmark, Sweden and Finland, and Vattenfall is working to further increase this capacity.

Q7 Wind Park has been ten years in the making. In 1998, a number of companies that included Vestas, Mammoet van Oord and Smulders began the process that would lead to the construction of Q7, due to begin operation in June, 2008. The annual power production of Q7 Wind Park is expected to be 435 GWh, and the CO2 emissions avoidance will be 225,000 tons per year.

The alpha ventus offshore wind farm is a pioneer project jointly undertaken by E.ON Climate & Renewables, EWE and Vattenfall Europe. Situated some 28 miles north of the island of Borkum in water approximately 100 feet deep, alpha ventus’ 12 wind turbines and offshore transformer station form the first wind farm to be erected at sea under genuine offshore conditions. The design, construction, operation and grid integration of the alpha ventus research project as a test field will gather fundamental experience, with a view to future commercial use of offshore wind farms.

The completed turbine foundations arising from the sea off Lincolnshire’s coastline are testament to the hard work of our project teams and our contractors, and demonstrate the significant progress made on our Lynn and Inner Dowsing offshore wind farms. Local people and visitors to the east coast tourist resort of Skegness have taken a keen interest in the construction and the world’s first purpose built wind farm installation ship operating just a few kilometres off their beach.

DONG Energy is on the verge of building, to date, the largest offshore wind farm in the world. Horns Rev II is 30 kilometres off the coast of Denmark and has a capacity of 209 MW. It will be a remarkable engineering achievement. Horns Rev II will provide a substantial contribution to the already significant portion of CO₂ neutral electricity generation in Denmark. The project is the first large offshore wind farm to reach beyond the 12 nautical mile border.

Vattenfall is currently building the Lillgrund offshore wind farm off the south coast of Sweden. The wind farm will have a total installed capacity of 110 MW and will be the largest wind farm in Sweden, in addition to being the third largest offshore wind farm in the world. This is the anticipated start of an expansion of installed wind power in Sweden on a large scale.