West Durham Wind Farm
Pioneering turbine design
A re-instated former open cast coal mine has been transformed into a wind farm with the construction of twelve 2MW turbines on the site.
The turbines measure 100m from the ground to the tip of the blade and five of the turbines were supported on driven steel tubular piles. This is the first time that onshore turbines have been supported on this form of pile.
Sustainable solutions
Grontmij, working for Hanson Contracting, established the concept and then worked closely with the piling sub-contractor to optimise the design, which used a recycled oil well casing to offer a more sustainable solution over other forms of piling.