ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) is holding a series of public information days about the onshore works for the East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm.
The events in February will give local communities an opportunity to meet the project management and construction teams and find out more about the wind farm, which received planning consent in 2017 and will be built 69km off the Suffolk coast.
To ensure that the green electricity generated by East Anglia THREE can reach homes and businesses, a 37km onshore cable corridor will run underground from Bawdsey to a new purpose-built converter station near Bramford, where it will connect into the existing National Grid substation.
The ducts for East Anglia THREE’s high-voltage (HV) cables already exist, having been laid during the construction of the East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm, which has been operational since July 2020.
SPR has kept local communities informed throughout the planning and construction phases for East Anglia THREE, so they can understand the nature of the work being carried out and how it may impact them.
"In 2022, we held events to introduce the project and our principal contractors, who are building the converter station and installing the high-voltage cables,” said Edward Rees, community liaison officer.
“The cable design has been completed since then, and we are now in a position to provide a more detailed explanation about what works will be taking place relative to where people live.”
Edward said the forthcoming information days are “a great opportunity to meet the construction teams face to face and raise any local queries”.
“I would like people to leave feeling that they understand more about the project, confident that we are committed to being good neighbours and will deal with any issues in good faith and as quickly as possible,” he added.
Ben Vick is another of the SPR team members who will be attending the events. In his role as export cables package manager, Ben is overseeing the supply, installation and termination of the onshore cables for East Anglia THREE, as well as 147km of offshore cable.
“With projects like this, one of the key challenges is managing the work scope and sequencing so we do what needs to be done with minimum disruption. Our construction site onshore alone is 37km long,” Ben explained.
Ben said the public information days will be a chance to “demonstrate to the public how we aim to achieve construction of the East Anglia THREE onshore works”.
“The events are a great opportunity to gain more detailed information and meet people like me, who are working at the forefront of the project,” he said.
Kieran Gallagher, onshore converter station package manager, will also be on hand to answer questions.
“I’m responsible for the construction of the new converter station near Bramford and the connection of the project into the National Grid network,” said Kieran.
“The electricity from the wind farm is converted to direct current (DC) at the offshore platform and transmitted approximately 147km to the Bramford site, where it is converted back into alternating current (AC) and feeds into the National Grid networks.”
Looking ahead to the public information days, he added: “I want to let local people know that we understand major construction projects do bring disruption, and that we will do our best to work with them to minimise the impact.”
Edward Rees added: “These events are a really useful way for local people to come along and have a chat in person, and I hope to see as many people as possible take up that opportunity.”
The public information days will be held at:
– Bramford, Loraine Victory Hall, 2-6pm, Monday, February 5
– Burstall Village Hall, 3-7pm, Tuesday, February 6
– Bawdsey Village Hall, 3-7pm, Wednesday, February 7
– Westerfield Village Hall, 3-7pm, Thursday, February 8
– Waldringfield Village Hall, 3-7pm, Monday, February 12
– Playford Village Hall, 3-7pm, Tuesday, February 13
– Martlesham Community Hall, 1.30-5.30pm, Wednesday, February 14
For more information about the East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm, visit spreastanglia.co.uk or email eastangliathree@scottishpower.com
This article is part of LOCALiQ's Clean & Green campaign, which aims to promote our region as the biggest in the UK and Europe for all forms of renewable energy.
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