Sustainable Temporary Power at Killingholme

Balfour Beatty has a multi-million pound contract to build the onshore substation for Ørsted’s latest offshore wind farm, Hornsea Project Two, on the east coast of England. When it is operational in 2022, the wind farm will supply green electricity to over 1.3 million homes and will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm.

The new onshore substation facility will transform the power produced by Hornsea Project Two wind farm before connecting it to the National Grid. It is a major development in the future of the UK’s renewable industry and the project will make an important contribution towards the UK’s goal for renewable electricity generation.

During the construction phase, Balfour Beatty required a fuel and energy efficient means of providing power for temporary site accommodation and other equipment on the onshore substation site until 2021.

Customer Name
Balfour Beatty
Project and Location
North Killingholme, Lincolnshire

The Challenge

We work closely with Balfour Beatty’s Sustainability department. For this project, Balfour Beatty was seeking a power management facility that would offer optimum fuel and energy efficiency in line with the sustainability principles developed by both Balfour Beatty and Danish company Ørsted, formerly known as Dong Energy. Balfour Beatty required a 500kVA temporary power solution, for a situationwhere the load drops regularly.

The Solution

We provide innovative services and developed a solution comprising the use of five 100kVA synchronised generator sets. Effectively linked as one unit, this allowed the load to be reduced and offered a multitude of benefits such as

  • Improved fuel efficiency
  • Reduced servicing costs
  • Reduced downtime
  • Enhanced carbon footprint.

Meeting the drive towards energy efficiency, the synchronised generator sets in use at Hornsea Project Two can run for prolonged periods at low loads of less than 30%. Especially overnight when the temporary accommodation is unoccupied and the demand for power drops significantly.

The Results

Balfour Beatty was delighted with the sustainable temporary power solution we developed for this project.

The solution met the challenges put forward as the generators can run for long periods at low loads, subsequently reducing fuel consumption and enhancing carbon footprint.

The project is on schedule and we are proud to have played a crucial role in its construction.