German utility RWE is advancing its ambitious offshore wind expansion, with first power flowing into the UK grid from the 857MW Triton Knoll wind farm in the North Sea that will be the largest run by the German utility once it is fully operational next year.

Belgian contractor DEME in January had started to install the first of 90 Vestas V164-9.5MW turbines at the site 32 kilometres off the Lincolnshire coast for the RWE-led consortium. The German utility owns 59% of the £2bn ($2.8bn) project, giving it a pro-rata share of 506MW in it, while Japanese utilities J-Power and Kansai Electric Power own 25% and 16% respectively.

“The successful first generation is a fantastic achievement for our Triton Knoll project, which has delivered first power on schedule while coping with the many challenges posed by the Corona pandemic,” RWE Renewables chief operating officer Sven Utermöhlen said.

“We are well on track to complete turbine commissioning in 2021, with final project completion of Triton Knoll in early 2022.”

Triton Knoll along with the 1.4GW Sofia offshore wind project the utility is developing at the Dogger Bank area in the North Sea, is one of the mega-projects that are key to RWE’s target to expand its global renewables portfolio to 13GW by investing €5bn ($6bn) in 2020-22.

The German utility – which says it currently still is the world’s second-biggest offshore wind operator - also recently was successful with bids for two new offshore sites with a potential for 3GW in installed capacity at the UK’s latest Round 4 leasing auction.

But RWE's overall renewables expansion plans despite billions of euros of investments pale in comparison with those of renewables giants such as Iberdrola or EDPR, which now have set targets to reach 95GW and 70GW respectively in renewable power generation capacity by 2030.

RWE since the first turbine was erected at Triton Knoll in January has completed the required commissioning activities on the project’s transmission system to enable the export of power to the UK National Grid for the first time.

“Achieving first power at Triton Knoll reinforces our position as a leading player in offshore wind and demonstrates our commitment to helping deliver the UK’s ambition to grow offshore wind capacity to 40GW by 2030,” RWE’s chief commercial officer Tom Glover said.

Wind

First power at RWE's largest offshore wind farm Triton Knoll