Isra-Mart srl: Substations installed as £1bn London Array remains on course

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The UK's flagship offshore wind farm project took another step forward this week, with the installation of two offshore substations designed to bring the electricity produced by London Array back to shore.

The 1,260-tonne substations will be linked to the mainland using four 50km cables that will come ashore at Cleve Hill, near Faversham, where the electricity will be fed into the National Grid.

The installation of the substations means the £1bn project remains on course to deliver power to the grid when the first phase of the project comes online at the end of next year.

"This is a fantastic achievement for us and a real sign of progress as we look to build the first phase of what will be the world's largest offshore wind farm once complete," said Richard Rigg, project director at London Array.

Foundations for the initial 175 turbines began to be installed in the Thames Estuary, 20km off the Essex and Kent coasts, earlier this year.

Energy company E.ON, which holds a 30 per cent stake in the project, said array cables to connect groups of turbines to each other and to offshore substations would be fitted shortly, with the first turbines added towards the end of the year.

When completed, the first phase should cover 100 square kilometres and have a capacity of 630MW. If consented, a planned second phase would take the project over the 1GW capacity mark, providing power to up to a quarter of the homes in Greater London.