Scout Moor Wind Farm Under Construction
| Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:04 moomooland |
Click on any photograph below for more detailed information.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               The above photographs show the on going delivery and construction of the Scoutmoor Wind Farm in Lancashire including the arrival and construction of the very first tower in November 2007 to the arrival and construction of the final tower in May 2008. The 26 wind turbines are spread out across a total of eight different grid squares with seven towers alone in SD8218 (More pictures will be added to the above gallery as construction continues through 2008 with more detailed information added below) |
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| Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:28 moomooland |
When completed the wind farm will consist of a total 26 wind turbines, each with a generating capacity of 2.5MW. The wind farm therefore will have a total capacity of 65MW of electricity, which will be enough power to supply the average needs of 40,000 homes. Turbine details: Tower Height: 60m Blade Length: 40m Total Max Height: 100m Manufacturer: Nordex Model: N8O Electricity will be exported to the National Grid via the newly built dedicated substation, shown below, located south of the A680 near Ashworth Moor Reservoir. Eight miles of new access roads have had to be constructed on the moor to enable the transportation of the turbines to each of the 26 turbine base locations. Turbine Tower number 21,shown below, was the first tower to be completed. With all the gale force winds in January and early February construction was delayed. Engineers made up for lost time in the second week of February thanks to fine calm weather conditions. This resulted in daily deliveries of turbine tower parts by road. With even more calm weather over the second two weeks of February 2008 engineers made rapid progress and completed the building of two more towers within a week. By early March 2008 a total of eight towers had been completed. By mid March 2008 a total of nine towers had been completed with a further two under construction which was quite an accomplishment due to all the high winds the country had suffered at that time of year. By the 19th of March 2008 Turbine Tower Nos 8,9,10,12,15,16,18,19,21 and 25 had been completed with just some internal work to be done. Construction continued on tower No 7 below which was the eleventh out of the total of twenty six towers to be built. April the 1st and construction has moved on to turbine base No 3 (below) after the completion of turbine towers 6,7,8,9,10,12,15,16,18,19,21 and 25. Turbine Tower No 3 was completed on Tuesday the 9th of April 2008 and was the thirteenth tower to be completed meaning the project had reached the halfway point. April the 6th 2008 Turbine No 25 became the very first turbine to begin generating. Early on Sunday morning technicians from the turbine manufacturer Nordex connected a laptop as part of the commissioning process which monitors more than 300 different parameters like temperature sensors, hydraulic sensors, pitch parameters, wind sensor set and power output. April 13th 2008 and a milestone day on Scout Moor when the first turbine No 25 went live and began generating at full power. May 3rd 2008 With the exellent weather conditions in April 2008 construction of Scout Moor Wind Farm picked up pace with 19 turbines erected, and works underway to complete the complex electronic, fibre optic and other control systems of each turbine. Once these systems are fitted each turbine will then be subject to rigorous testing and commissioning procedures, and once complete they will be ready for generation of electricity. The commissioning of the installed turbines occured at the same time as the remaining turbines were erected and made ready for internal fitting out as described above. This resulted in some turbines generating electricity whilst others were being installed, and commissioned at other locations across the site. May 20th 2008 Construction had continued over the previous three weeks at a steady pace leaving just 4 Turbine Towers awaiting construction. Two met masts were built over the last two weeks of May one next to Turbine No 16 and one next to Turbine No 2. May 31st 2008 Saw the delivery of the very last Turbine Tower sections to Scout Moor Almost 6 months to the day since the first tower was delivered in November 2007 the final two towers to be constructed were Turbines No 17 and 23 June 4th 2008 Turbine No 17 below was completed during the afternoon. The cranes and equipment then moved on during late afternoon to start consruction of the final tower Turbine No 23 below which, was due to be completed by week ending 7/06/2008 June 7th 2008 This was an historic day on Scout Moor as construction of the wind farm came to an end. At 13:00 the very last blade was attached to Turbine No 23 and all superstructure building work was complete. Ground crew engineers are seen below in front of the final blade just before it was lifted into position. June 23rd 2008 It is anticipated that generation of electricity from the wind farm will now increase over the coming weeks as the final tests and commisioning works to the 26 turbines are completed. Construction of the wind turbines on began back in November 2007 at Turbine No 16. By June 2008 engineers had constructed 26 wind turbine towers and installed 78 turbine blades 450 metres above sea level up on Scout Moor much of the time amid adverse weather conditions of thick fog,gale force winds,torrential rain,snow and ice during the winter months of 2008. Peel Holdings Scout Moor Wind Farm Picture Gallery Click here for the last map showing the progress of construction on Scout Moor (Final Update was 9/06/08) With the project now almost complete I would just like to take this opportunity to thank construction site manager Martin Hewitt and project manager Jamie Mathlin without whose help and co-operation during the construction of the wind farm many of the close up pictures above would not have been possible These photographs are just a small selection from over 4500 pictures i have taken on Scout Moor between November 2007 and July 2008. Over the coming months more construction pictures will be added to the gallery |
| Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:52 Lordelph |
News article in which you get a mention! |
| Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:11 moomooland |
Update to gallery 23/06/2008 |
| Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:11 moomooland |
Update 16/07/2008 |
| Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:02 moomooland |
In depth article about the Scout Moor Wind Farm that has used some Geograph images. McNicholas Press Release Scout Moor turbines spinning McNicholas project manager Jamie Mathlin and his team have successfully overcome some extreme weather conditions during the construction of a 26-turbine wind farm scheme at Scout Moor in Lancashire. Wind speeds of up to 210 kph, temperatures as low as minus 12 degrees Celsius, ferocious hailstorms and 25 days of snow were among the difficulties they faced. They even had to cope with the unusual problem of cranes becoming frozen in the extreme cold. Scout Moor is near Rochdale in south-east Lancashire and the 65MW project, which began in November 2006, is due to be commissioned in September this year. All 26 Nordex turbines have been erected and 12 are already connected to a new sub station. Nearly 25km of new roads have been built, floating on a geotextile mesh laid on top of the peat bog, which is a feature of the site. Over 70km of cabling was installed during the works. Project work included plugging disused coalmine shafts with 7000 cubic metres of grout to stop them collapsing. Care has also been taken to protect nearby reservoirs from pollution. The project's carbon footprint has been reduced through sourcing 95 per cent of the raw materials required from within a radius of 16km. Scout Moor is being developed by Peel Holdings and the electricity generated will be bought by Scottish Power under a 15-year agreement. "It has been really challenging," said Jamie, "but we are on the home straight now and everyone involved can be proud of the project." McNicholas |
