National Wind Watch: Wind Energy News » RWE makes 50% cut to Triton Knoll

RWE Innogy is to reduce the capacity of the 1.2GW Triton Knoll by as much as 600MW, only weeks after it cancelled the 1.2GW Atlantic Array wind farm.

In a statement, RWE said reductions has been made to the onshore footprint of the project following a review. The new design reduces the size of the onshore substation by 50% and the intermediate compound by 40%.

RWE Project Manager Jacob Hain said: “The recent optimisation work is part of a project review to make the site more competitive and more economic in line with government proposals to bring down the cost of offshore wind.”

In July, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) was granted planning consent for Triton Knoll. In June, the preferred locations for the substation were announced.

Sited 32km off the Lincolnshire coast and potentially containing 288 turbines, Triton Knoll was the last of five projects in the Greater Wash to gain planning permission.

Development was delayed by the Ministry of Defence objecting to the clutter effect of the turbines’ blades on its air defence radar screens.

The impasse was finally broken by the five developers stumping up £16 million for a new Lockheed Martin radar system capable of filtering the movement of wind turbines from other air activity.

The decision comes only weeks after RWE announced it was cancelling the 1.2GW Atlantic Array wind farm in the Bristol Channel, southwest England.

RWE’s move also comes against a backdrop of issues in the German company’s home market, including job cuts and a promise from CEO Peter Terium to make cuts to its operations. RWE reported a EUR 73 million loss in the third quarter of 2013.