The Anonymous Widower

SeAH To Deliver Monopiles For Vattenfall’s 2.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Project

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

Vattenfall has signed a contract with SeAH Wind to provide the monopiles for the 2.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard East and Norfolk Vanguard West offshore wind farms in the UK.

These two paragraphs outline the order.

The monopiles for the Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farms will weigh up to around 2,200 tonnes and have a length of up to 96 metres.

Production is due to start in 2026 at SeAH Wind’s new under-construction facility in Teesside, northeast England.

Note.

1. Norfolk Vanguard now appears to be two 1.4 GW wind farms; East and West, which adds up to a 2.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard wind farm.
2. There is no mention of the 1.4 GW Norfolk Boreas wind farm in the article, except that it has a Contract for Difference (CfD), whereas I don’t think Norfolk Vanguard has a contract.
3. Would anybody buy wind farm foundations without a contract?

It looks like there has been some very tough negotiations between Vattenfall, the Crown Estate and the UK Government.

Is There An Alternative Approach?

Consider.

• If Vattenfall develop all three wind farms; Boreas, Vanguard East and Vanguard West, they will have 4.2 GW of capacity, when the wind co-operates.
• But East Norfolk is not noted for industries that need a large amount of electricity.
• I also feel, that the locals would object to a steelworks or an aluminium smelter, just like they object to electricity cables.

But would they object to a 4 GW offshore electrolyser?

Could this be Vattenfall’s alternative approach?

• A giant electrolyser is built close to the landfall of the cable to the wind farms.
• The hydrogen could be piped to Bacton, where it could be blended with the UK’s natural gas.
• Bacton also has gas interconnectors to Balgzand in the Netherlands and Zeebrugge in Belgium. Could these interconnectors be used to export hydrogen to Europe?
• The hydrogen could be piped to Yarmouth, where it could be exported by tanker to Europe.

There would be only a small amount of onshore development and no overhead transmission lines to connect the wind farms to the National Grid.

There would be even less onshore development, if the electrolyser was offshore.

From their decisions, Vattenfall seem to have a new plan.

December 13, 2023 - Posted by AnonW | Hydrogen | Bacton Gas Terminal, Crown Estate, Norfolk Boreas Wind Farm, Norfolk Vanguard Wind Farm, Offshore Hydrogen Production, SeAH Wind, Vattenfall