London Array, the world’s largest operational offshore wind farm, has set a new record for the amount of clean electricity produced by an offshore wind farm in a single calendar month.
In December 2015, London Array saw its 175 turbines generate 369,000 MWh of electricity — considerably above target and well above the previous best of 317,000 MWh set in November 2014. The capacity factor for the month, which saw average wind speeds of 11.9 m/s (27 mph), was 78.9 percent.
The two successive months of production brought net overall output for the year to some 2,500,000 MWh, enough to meet the needs of more than 600,000 U.K. households based on an average household consumption of 4,115 kWh per year.
“Both the monthly and annual figures are excellent results for London Array and show the contribution we are making to the country’s energy supply as well as the U.K.’s renewable energy targets,” said Jonathan Duffy, general manager of London Array. “Above average winds this winter have helped push production higher but that is only part of the story. We have a great team of people who support the operation and maintenance of the wind farm, and we have pushed hard over the past year to build on our earlier successes and develop our approach to turbine maintenance and repair. Together with key contractors DONG Energy and Siemens, we have focused on operational efficiency and expanding the amount of time our technicians are able to work offshore. This has helped ensure we extracted the maximum power from the wind and kept turbine availability above 98 percent over the winter. Our performance is also good news for the environment as it will have prevented the release of some 1,075,000 tons of carbon dioxide in 2015, which is the main gas linked to climate change.”
— Source: London Array
For more information,
go to www.londonarray.com.
