AREVA’s Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Division has won a contract for 21 million Euros to design, supply, install and commission the onshore and offshore substations for the Robin Rigg East and Robin Rigg West wind farms. The contract was placed by E.ON UK, a major utility in the United Kingdom. Building on the success of a similar project carried out by AREVA T&D in 2004, Robin Rigg confirms the company’s leading position on the UK’s growing market for offshore high-voltage substations.

The project is due to start full commercial operation early in 2009, and will
contribute significantly to the UK Government’s target of delivering 15% of all electricity supplied in England and Wales from renewable energy sources by 2015. It will require the construction of an onshore substation at Seaton in the North of England, to connect the two wind farms to the 132 kV distribution network. In addition, two high-voltage offshore substations will be installed on monopiles in the Solway Firth, the estuary that separates Scotland from England approximately 12 km from the English coast.

AREVA T&D’s success in delivering the UK’s first offshore high-voltage
substation was a key factor in E.ON’s decision when awarding the contract. The Barrow Offshore Windfarm project demonstrated AREVA T&D’s ability to deliver, within demanding timescales, an efficient and reliable solution capable of operating in a harsh offshore environment.

Stephen Burgin, AREVA President for the UK, said: “AREVA T&D has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in complex electrical connections gained through decades of designing, manufacturing and commissioning substations. The Robin Rigg project takes that substantial expertise into a new and growing market for high-voltage offshore electrical connections.”