Scroby Sands Wind Farm

Template:Short description Template:Infobox power station Template:Maplink The Scroby Sands Wind Farm is a wind farm located on the Scroby Sands sandbank in the North Sea, Template:Convert off the coast of Great Yarmouth in eastern England, United Kingdom. It was commissioned in March 2004 by Powergen Renewables Offshore, a division of E.ON UK. It has a nameplate capacity of 60 megawatts and is able to produce power to supply 41,000 households. Between 2005 and 2010, its capacity factor was between 26 and 32%.<ref name="ref10">Dunford et al. UK Renewable Energy Data, Issue 10 p53 Renewable Energy Foundation, 29 July 2010. Accessed: 30 September 2011.</ref> Its levelised cost has been estimated at £105/MWh.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The farm consists of 30 wind turbines, located in water from Template:Convert deep. Each turbine has three Template:Convert blades that rotate around a centre-point some Template:Convert above the mean sea level. The hollow Template:Convert diameter steel masts that carry the turbines are piled as much as Template:Convert into the sea bed, to provide stability on a substrate of shifting sands. These shifting sands have piled up and decreased water depth, blocking access from service vessels. An amphibious vehicle is being built to drive on the sand to gain access to the turbines.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The wind turbines were designed and manufactured by a Danish firm, Vestas. Each turbine has a capacity of 2 megawatts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Turbines were installed by the Danish offshore wind farms services provider A2SEA.<ref name=a2sea> Template:Cite journal </ref>

In August 2023 one of the turbines caught fire.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Tourism

The wind farm has an information centre serving around 35,000 visitors per year, and has become a local attraction.<ref name="power_technology">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="E.ON_tourism"> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In June of 2018, Eon refurbished the property, with new exhibits and interactive displays, among other branding changes.
As of February 2023, the Visitor Centre has been Permanently Closed and vacated by Eon. It was believed to have closed in late 2019, and the reason is unknown.<ref name="Visitor centre property">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Gallery

• Scrobysands04.11.2005.b.jpg

  Wind farm seen from Great Yarmouth

• Scrobysands04.11.2005.c.jpg

  Information board at Great Yarmouth

• Scroby Sands Wind Farm 2981489897.jpg

  A Jackup rig servicing one of the wind turbines

• MV Vos Paradise in front of Scroby Sands wind farm.jpg

  MV Vos Paradise in front of Scroby Sands wind farm

• Scroby Sands wind farm panorama.jpg

  Scroby Sands wind farm panorama

See also

• Wind power in the United Kingdom
• Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm
• List of offshore wind farms
• List of offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom
• List of offshore wind farms in the North Sea

External links

• Capital Grant Scheme for Offshore Wind Annual Report – January 2005 – December 2005 from the Department of Trade and Industry. The main finding being that - apparently owing to a series of bearing failures, and four generator failures - production in the year was less to 30% of the farm's nameplate capacity (albeit this represents production of 90% of the farm's forecast annual output.
• Performance report into wind farm from the BBC, based on the above report.
• E.ON UK - Scroby Sands E.ON's page about Scroby Sands.