East Anglia Three wind farm completes foundation installation

Developers of the East Anglia Three offshore wind farm have completed the installation of the final monopile foundation off the coast of Suffolk. This milestone marks the positioning of all 95 foundations for the 1.4GW project, which is valued at £4 billion. The first foundation was installed in April 2025, and the completion of this phase represents a significant step towards the project’s operational target.

The foundations, which weigh between 1,200 and 1,800 tonnes, stand between 67 and 84 metres tall and are up to 10.6 metres wide. They were manufactured by Navantia Seanergies Windar Renovables. Installation work was carried out by Seaway7, with the initial campaign completed by its jack-up vessel, Seaway Ventus. In addition to the monopiles, all 95 transition pieces have been installed. The installation of the 14.7MW Siemens Gamesa turbines is currently under way, having begun in April. Each turbine features blades measuring 115 metres in length, which sets a record for the longest blades manufactured and deployed in British waters. All 285 blades were produced at Siemens Gamesa’s factory in Hull.

ScottishPower Renewables chief executive Charlie Jordan described the completion of foundation installation as a true engineering triumph. He noted that more than 200,000 tonnes of steel have been anchored into a seabed area the size of almost 43,000 football pitches. The project is jointly owned by ScottishPower Renewables and Masdar, with Masdar taking its stake back in July last year. Masdar executive director Husain Al Meer stated that this is the company’s first 50:50 offshore wind joint venture in the UK. The project forms part of the wider £10 billion East Anglia Hub, following the 714MW East Anglia One wind farm. East Anglia Three is scheduled to reach full operations by the end of 2026, ahead of the development of East Anglia Two, which will have a capacity of up to 960MW.