10 years of West of Duddon Sands
In 2024, ScottishPower Renewables celebrates a decade of delivery in offshore wind as West of Duddon Sands windfarm marks its tenth year of operation.
Built and operated as a 50/50 partnership, the West of Duddon Sands windfarm was brought to life in 2014 and since then it has been powering a cleaner and greener future from the Irish Sea, around 14km off the Cumbrian coastline.
Over the last ten years, it has produced enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of around 340,000 homes each year – that’s the same as the size of the city of Leeds.
The project marked investment of more than £1 billion and supported more than 1,000 jobs at peak construction, with around 40 long-term skilled jobs created at its operations and maintenance base in Barrow-in Furness.
It also supported multi-million investment, jobs and growth at Belfast Harbour – the first purpose-built offshore wind installation and pre-assembly harbour in the UK and Ireland.
In its ten years of existence West of Duddon Sands also marks a milestone in the advancing construction technology of offshore wind. At the time of construction, the windfarm benefitted from using two of the world’s largest and most advanced vessels to install the foundations and turbine components, allowing work to continue offshore during one of the worst winters for storm force winds.
As its first-ever offshore windfarm, it has cemented its place in Iberdrola history and paved the way for ScottishPower to become one of the biggest players in the UK.