Friedrich Ernestine completes her first commission

RWE Innogy says it has successfully installed all 160 foundations for the 576 MW Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm, located eight miles off the coast of North Wales.

The milestone comes less than two years after the start of construction work on the project, which will comprise 160 Siemens 3.6 MW turbines, and is the world’s second largest offshore wind farm after the London Array (630 MW).

The final transition piece was installed on Wednesday 23rd April by RWE’s jack up installation vessel, Friedrich Ernestine. The vessel was fitted with the world’s largest reverse circulation pile top drill – the LDD500 – designed and built in the UK by Cornwall-based LDD for the Gwynt y Môr project.

RWE says the Friedrich Ernestine vessel will now sail to Bremerhaven, Germany to install turbines at Nordsee Ost (where the foundations were completed last month) with sister vessel the Victoria Matthias.

RWE meanwhile will ‘focus on installing the final 19 turbines and commissioning the entire array’ at Gwynt y Môr.

The greater than £2 billion Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm is being funded by RWE Innogy in partnership with Stadtwerke München GmbH, and Siemens AG. It ‘remains on schedule to become fully constructed in 2014.’


Friedrich Ernestine (Source: RWE)