III. Sheringham Shoal, Statoil

Source: Scira, Sheringham Shoal.

Sheringham Shoal. 88 Siemens Wind Power 3.6 MW outside Norfolk in England.

Participated within the project at an early stage, until Hywind as the first mover in Statoil was taking most attention.

The financial crisis was at that time a huge risk for investment decision. On technical side, the gear box challenge reported on the first offshore wind parks was a potential show stopper for Sheringham Shoal project. The gear boxes in the offshore industry had its reputation as the achilles heel. Vestas was almost bankrupt due to the V90 gear box challenges at that time. Many gear box break downs that need crane/jack up vessels  will “kill” the economy. Later on, this was the first step toward the direct drive test program on Havøygavlen without gear box.