ScottishPower has awarded a turbine contract worth more than £1 billion for its East Anglia TWO offshore windfarm just weeks after renewables auction success.
The agreement will see Siemens Gamesa supply 64 of its SG 14-236 DD offshore wind turbines, which have a rotor diameter of 236 metres, used for what is ScottishPower’s third offshore wind project in the southern North Sea.
Situated almost 33km off the Suffolk coat, East Anglia TWO will have the capacity to generate up to 960MW of green electricity – enough to power the equivalent of almost one million homes.
The 115 metres-long blades will be manufactured at Siemens Gamesa’s offshore wind blade factory in Hull, which now employs around 1,300 people after recruiting more than 600 new employees over the last 12 months.
The contract award comes just after ScottishPower announced it is doubling its investment in the UK – from £12 billion to £24 billion – between 2024 and 2028.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower will fire up our industrial heartlands and break down barriers to growth in our hard-working towns and cities.
“It will strengthen our national security - protecting our children and grandchildren from the climate crisis, and impact this will have on their future prosperity.
“By acting decisively and early, the UK has an opportunity to lead the world in the industries of the future — working in partnership with business like ScottishPower and Siemens Energy — creating real energy security, cutting energy bills and building jobs and supply chains in the UK.
“But we can’t move alone - and at COP I will lead efforts to protect Britain from climate change by also working with other countries to accelerate the global clean transition to tackle the causes at its root.”
Siemens Gamesa is the fully owned wind business of Siemens Energy with more than 6,000 employees in the UK.
East Anglia TWO’s success in the new UK Government’s Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6 (AR6) in September 2024 comes 14 years after the seabed rights for the windfarm were awarded by the last Labour government under former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and when Ed Miliband was previously Energy Secretary.
East Anglia is the heart of ScottishPower’s offshore wind operations in the UK, with East Anglia ONE in operation; East Anglia THREE under construction; and supply chain being put in place for East Anglia TWO.
Collectively, these windfarms – all of them equipped with Siemens Gamesa turbines – will produce enough clean, green electricity to power the equivalent of more than three million homes.
Subscribe
