UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE - Wind Energy Network

INDUSTRY NEWS
UK’s most powerful onshore wind turbine delivers
to the grid
REpower’s 3.4M104, the UK’s most
powerful onshore wind turbine,
is now delivering power to the
grid for the first time at Hainsford
Energy’s Blyth Harbour Wind Farm in
Northumberland.
Open Day
This historic first phase of the Blyth
Harbour Wind Farm re-powering project
was marked by a special ‘open day’ event
for REpower’s clients and partners, in
collaboration with Hainsford Energy and the
Port of Blyth.
Port of Blyth Chief Executive, Martin
Lawlor, confirmed he was delighted
to see the pioneering turbine erected
in Blyth commenting: “This important
development re-affirms Port of Blyth’s
position as a leading renewable energy
focused port, with the handling capacity
for the largest turbines, as a home for
major developments in wind and biomass,
as well as having the facilities to
accommodate renewable energy related
manufacturing and service companies
and will only assist in attracting further
significant investment to the Blyth estuary.”
sector in the UK. Using larger capacity
turbines like this means that onshore
wind farms can be even more productive
in relation to their size and REpower
is leading the way in this respect. It is
essential for the future of the industry that
we generate more power from available
sites. The re-certification of the turbine
demonstrates REpower’s commitment
to develop turbines that provide our
customers with high yields in all wind
conditions – the new certification will
make the 3.4M104 ideally suited to
windier conditions in UK sites.”
Charles Rose, founder and owner of
Hainsford Energy said: “The 3.4M104
represents the first phase of the Blyth
Harbour Wind Farm repowering project –
the original nine 300KW turbines were part
of one of the first onshore wind farms in
the UK. Subsequent phases will see three
further 3.4M104 turbines erected along
the East Pier. We are also delighted to be
working with REpower UK again, following
a long standing relationship which goes
back to 2006 when REpower supplied the
turbines to Hainsford’s first repowering
project the Caton Moor Wind Farm.”
Hainsford is one of the UK’s longest
established renewable energy companies,
owned by Charles Rose, who has been
at the forefront of developing renewable
energy and pioneering the repowering of
existing wind farms in the UK for many
years, as well as developing wind energy
internationally in Europe, Southern Africa,
Australia and Latin America.
Since its launch in 2004, REpower UK has
delivered forty three onshore wind farms
in Scotland, England and Wales and two
offshore wind farms: Project Beatrice in the
North Sea and its largest offshore contract
to date, Ormonde wind farm. Owned by
Vattenfall, this offshore wind farm in the Irish
Sea consists of the thirty REpower 5M wind
turbines with a total rated output of 150 MW.
REpower
www.repower.de
The REpower 3.4M104 was sold to
Hainsford Energy in January 2012 for
construction on land adjacent to the East
Pier at Blyth Harbour as the first phase of
the repowering of the Blyth Harbour Wind
Farm, which was originally built in 1992.
The 3.4M104 produces more power than
the original nine 300KW turbines combined.
A single wind turbine of this model can
provide power for nearly 2,000 homes.
Repower announcement at HUSUM
At the recent HUSUM Wind Energy fair
in Germany, REpower also announced
the expansion of their 3 megawatt turbine
series which will see a re-certification of the
3.4M104 machine for higher wind speeds.
Rick Eggleston, Managing Director of
REpower UK comments: “The 3.4M104
signals the future of the onshore wind
Hainsford Energy
www.hainsford.com
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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