Siemens awards offshore substation contract to Harland & Wolff

Siemens has announced it has awarded a contract for two offshore substation structures for one of the largest wind farm developments in the UK to Belfast yard Harland and Wolff (H&W).

To date Siemens has used British yards for all six of its offshore substations for the UK. This latest win for H&W will further help to develop the UK supply chain, create jobs and stimulate the local economy. The substation structures form part of Siemens' contract to design and build the onshore and offshore substations for the 576MW Gwynt y Môr (GYM) offshore wind farm in Liverpool Bay.

Gwynt y Môr is one of the largest offshore wind power projects of its kind for the UK, representing a total investment of more than €2bn.

Part of the Crown Estate's Round 2 offshore wind development programme, GYM is a 576MW, 160 turbine UK Round 2 wind farm being constructed by a consortium of RWE Innogy, SWM - Municipal Utility Munich, Germany, and Siemens. The wind farm will be located 13km off the coast of North Wales and work will start towards the end of 2011 to erect the first foundations for a total of 160 wind turbines.

Siemens will supply the wind turbines, which will be connected via 33kV array cables to two new offshore substations. Onboard the H&W built platforms Siemens' equipment will transform the power from 33kV up to 132kV for transmission back to a new onshore substation at St Asaph also to be built by Siemens.