Vestas lands UK windfarm contract

Vestas Fullabrook contract supplies 22 V90 3 MW turbines for a 66 MW onshore wind farm in Devon, UK, including installation, commissioning, and a 10-year service agreement with ESB, delivering renewable energy to 30,000 homes.

The largest onshore windfarm in the UK will use turbines from Danish turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems A/S.

The company has landed the deal to supply turbines for the 66-megawatt MW Fullabrook windfarm in north Devon, on the southern coast of England. Vestas will supply 22 units of its V90 model 3-MW wind turbine, following recent Balkans turbine orders in Europe, to Devon Wind Power Limited, a subsidiary of ESB Wind Development UK. The contract includes the supply, installation and commissioning of the turbines, as well as a 10-year service agreement. When operational in 2011, the Fullabrook windfarm will generate sufficient electricity for almost 30,000 homes.

The Fullabrook contract sees Vestas continue a recent run of European contract successes amid EU windfarm expansion across the region. In July, the company secured three European wind contracts with a combined generating capacity of 126 MW for wind facilities in Sweden, Germany and Italy.

"When completed, the Fullabrook will become the largest onshore windfarm in England, and it is a landmark in both the development of ESB as one of our key accounts and in their strategic goal of investing 4 billion euros US $5.3 billion in renewable generation projects," said Klaus Steen Mortensen, president of Vestas Northern Europe. "Vestas looks forward to playing an active role in the achievement of this target."

ESB Wind Development is the UK arm of Ireland's state-owned energy company Electricity Supply Board ESB, which has ambitious plans to expand into the UK renewable energy market, including major UK offshore wind contracts now under consideration, in the coming years. In June, ESB Wind Development purchased the forthcoming 34.5-MW Mynydd y Betws windfarm in Carmarthenshire, South Wales, from energy company Eco2.

Andy Paine, ESB's head of wind development in the UK, said: "With Fullabrook and Mynydd y Betws providing 100 MW of development assets, together with 24 MW operational at West Durham, ESB is well on the way to achieving 200 MW of wind generation in Britain by 2012. We are committed to developing a balanced portfolio of generation in this market, as the United Kingdom adds more offshore wind to its mix, with less reliance on carbon."

In related news, work has begun on the 71.75-MW Gordonbush windfarm in Caithness, Scotland, while more offshore projects are on the horizon for the UK market. Scottish and Southern Energy plc said that following completion of access works at the site, the main construction of the windfarm will start later this month. The farm will comprise 35 turbines, each rated at 2.05-MW, and when connected to the national grid in May next year, will be capable of providing power to 70,500 homes.

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