Electricity has been generated for the first time at the West of Duddon Sands Offshore wind farm, it has been confirmed.

The energy project, which is located in the Irish Sea, is being developed by ScottishPower Renewables and DONG Energy.

It is understood that engineers working on the scheme have installed 42 of the 108 turbines that make up the development and the commissioning process has commenced with power from four of those turbines being exported to the national grid.

The wind farm is expected to be completed later this year were it will then be capable of generating up to 389 megawatts (MW) of electricity – enough to power approximately 280,000 homes.

Work on the site has been underway for two years with more than 1,000 employed on the project. The work has included the installation of more than 200km of cables with the 108 foundation sections being completed. The wind farm itself has a total area span of 67km², with each individual Siemens turbine having a capacity of 3.6MW. The electricity it generates is initially connected in to a specially designed offshore substation. The voltage from the turbines is increased and two export cables then take the electricity ashore to the onshore substation at Heysham, where the wind farm is connected to the UK national grid.

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The project uses a £50m offshore wind terminal at Belfast Harbour, and is the first purpose-built offshore wind installation and pre-assembly harbour in the UK and Ireland. The project also benefits from using two advanced installation vessels.

Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables said: "Constructing an offshore wind farm is a major engineering challenge, and it is fantastic to see all of the different elements of the project coming together to achieve first power.

"Over 1000 people are currently working on this project, encompassing a wide variety of skill sets from electrical engineers to construction technicians to marine biologists. We need all of these individuals to work together as a team to deliver the project, and we are delighted with the progress so far."

Benj Sykes, UK Country Manager at DONG Energy's Wind business added: "First power is a significant point to reach on a project, and it's an ideal beginning to an exciting year for West of Duddon Sands.

"We've now installed more than one third of the turbines and commissioning of those is underway, and we're on course to complete the project by the end of this year."

(JP/CD)