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London Array Wind Farm

White wind turbine

Contributors

Richard Cockburn

Richard Cockburn

Towner Chris-Web.jpg

Chris Towner

Simon Hughes

Simon Hughes

Vicki Redman

Vicki Redman

Anthony Alderman

Anthony Alderman

London Array Wind Farm

It was the largest offshore wind farm in the world until the Walney Extension reached full production in September 2018. As one of the world’s leading offshore wind farms, its conception and construction attracted international attention and paved the way for even larger wind farms being built around Britain’s coastline.

Arranged in rows and columns aligned according to the prevailing south-westerly wind, they are placed 650m to 1,200m apart and cover an area of 100sq km. Each turbine’s hub is 87m above sea level, and to the tip of the blade at its highest point is around 147m, taller than the London Eye. With a diameter of 120m, the blades have a swept area of 11,300m2 – one and a half times the size of Wembley Stadium’s football pitch.

London Array’s transmission assets are owned by a consortium known as Blue Transmission London Array Limited . These were purchased in September 2013 in accordance with Ofgem’s Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) regime .

Womble Bond Dickinson was instructed to:

  • Secure consents via Section 36 Electricity Act
  • Secure onshore planning permission for the substation
  • Secure a works licence from Port of London Authority
  • Pursue separate onshore Compulsory Purchase Orders
  • Offshore transmission related advice.

This was the first major offshore wind project on which impacts on marine birdlife became a significant issue, after a wintering colony of red-throated divers was discovered in the Thames Estuary. The site was declared a protected European site, and to secure consent the project had to demonstrate that the displacement effects would not have an adverse effect on the integrity of the European site. The second phase of the project was unable to proceed because of this perceived impact.

Even without phase two, this was a major flagship project consented under the Section 36 Electricity Act regime (since replaced in England by the Development Consent Order regime under the Planning Act 2008).

It was seen as a major confidence boost for the offshore wind industry that a project of this size could be consented; it was the biggest by some distance at the time.

Not only was it necessary to satisfy the test of no adverse effects under the Habitats Regulations in respect of red-throated diver in order to secure Section 36 consent. It was also necessary to gain planning permission on appeal for the onshore substation providing a detailed design brief to minimise visual impacts on users of the coastal footpath at Cleve Hill in Kent.

Key facts and figures

Construction cost:

offshore substations

onshore substation

Generates enough clean electricity to power around

A reduction of harmful CO² emissions by around

tonnes per year

Womble Bond Dickinson Insights

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IMAGES

  1. OEG Case Study Offshore Renewables Modular LERs London Array Wind Farm (4)

    london array wind farm case study

  2. (PDF) Wind Energy Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals

    london array wind farm case study

  3. London Array

    london array wind farm case study

  4. London Array sets new record for offshore wind generation

    london array wind farm case study

  5. London Array Offshore Windfarm

    london array wind farm case study

  6. SGS Technical Due Diligence For Butendiek Offshore Wind Farm

    london array wind farm case study

VIDEO

  1. London Array Offshore Wind farm

  2. London Array announces more wind turbines in second phase of wind farm off Thanet

  3. A Day In The Life Of A Wind Turbine Engineer

  4. London Array Foundation and Turbine Installation

  5. Introduction to Wind Farm Case Study & Information Memorandum

  6. WindFarmer

COMMENTS

  1. London Array Wind Farm

    The London Array is one of the world’s leading offshore wind farms with 175 Siemens 3.6MW wind turbines with a combined capacity of 630MW. The development is a Round 2 offshore wind farm located 20 …

  2. Wind Energy Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals: …

    Furthermore, the present study highlights the role of the London Array wind farm in achieving the SDGs. Indeed, deploying clean and economical energy sources in place of …

  3. London Array offshore wind farm 10 years on

    London Array has demonstrated that large scaleoffshore wind projects not only have a significant role to play in securing the UK’s energy supplies while also meeting contributing to …

  4. Wind Energy Contribution to the Sustainable …

    In this context, the current article aims to investigate wind energy’s role within the SDGs. Furthermore, the present study highlights the role of the London Array wind farm in...

  5. London Array, United Kingdom

    Wind farms such as London Array work by harvesting the natural energy present when the wind blows and then using it to generate clean, renewable electricity. This impressive wind …

  6. London Array NonTechnical Summary v1

    The London Array Wind Farm is sufficiently far from KIA to have no direct impact on air traffic control. However, turbines may be detectable on the airport’s radar. The primary radar at KIA is …

  7. London Array is ship shape with Sennen

    CASE STUDY. London Array is ship shape with Sennen. WHO IS LONDON ARRAY? London Array is one of the world’s largest offshore windfarms based 20 kilometres off the Kent coast in …

  8. Arup Group helps reduce carbon footprint of London Array wind …

    Renewable energies like wind aren’t automatically net zero, since their construction and operation can generate carbon. The Arup Group’s digital solution is helping London Array, a major …

  9. London Array

    security and control for London Array offshore wind farm. London Array is a proposed offshore wind farm that is designed to help the UK move towards its goal of cutting carbon emissions by …