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WINDS OF CHANGE
Chris Randle, Siemens senior project manager on the London Array project, speaks to Andrew Hubbard about the scheme that will power more than 470,000 homes from energy generated by wind turbines.

n 2001, a series of environmental studies in the outer Thames Estuary confirmed that the area was a suitable wind farm site and the London Array Offshore Wind Farm was born. The scope was bold to create the worlds largest offshore wind farm, 20km off the coasts of Kent and Essex. It was to be installed on an up to 245km2 site and built in two phases. Phase one would cover 90km2 and include 175 turbines with a combined capacity of 630 megawatts (MW). Two years later, in 2003, the Crown Estate gave London Array Ltd a 50-year lease for the site and cable route to shore. Planning consent for a one-gigawatt

offshore wind farm was granted in 2006, and permission was granted for the onshore works in 2007. Work on the first phase of the project got under way in July 2009 with the construction of the onshore substation at Cleve Hill in Kent. Offshore construction began in March 2011 and phase one achieved first power in October 2012. London Array, the consortium behind the wind farm, comprises DONG Energy, E.ON and Masdar. Siemens has supplied 175 3.6MW wind turbine generators, grid connections (offshore and onshore) and operations and maintenance services, under a five-year turbine warranty agreement for the project. Chris Randle, senior project

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manager, joined the project in 2010 as the Siemens Wind Power UK practitioner responsible for managing all activities relating to turbine project delivery carried out in the UK and offshore. He explains the scope of his project. We were brought aboard to design, manufacture, deliver, transport, install, commission, service and maintain the wind turbine generators offshore, approximately 20km of the coast of Kent, for London Array.

THE SET UP
For Siemens, the set up of the project was split into several areas, with two project management offices; one at Siemens UK headquarters at Frimley, Surrey, and the other in Vejle, Denmark. Chris says: During the project, we also established site organisations in the Port of Ramsgate, the Port of Harwich and the Port of Esbjerg alongside offshore site facilities for up to 200 site-based staff living offshore. Siemens Service Renewables will have 35 technicians at the operations and maintenance base in Ramsgate as part of the wider London Array operations and maintenance team.

Chris Randle MAPM is a senior project manager at Siemens Energy. He joined the London Array project in 2010 as the Siemens Wind Power UK project manager responsible for managing all activities relating to turbine project delivery carried out in the UK and offshore.

responsibility of Siemens. However, as Chris explains, ensuring that all parties were kept on board throughout the scheme was the duty of everyone involved. Siemens as a key supplier into the project also had responsibility for a number of key external and internal stakeholders from within the supply chain who were critical to successful project delivery. I realised early on that this responsibility needed to be shared by the whole project team. As part of our project planning, we carried out detailed stakeholder mapping to ensure that the appropriate team members were aligned to and responsible for each stakeholder. As part of my responsibility, I have ensured that these key relationships continue to be developed and maintained

throughout by communicating effectively. Of course this is never simple within a project as long as this one but linking stakeholder management with communications management was vital to keeping stakeholders engaged.

ENERGY CHALLENGES
Chris believes projects like the London Array are vital to the future of the UK. He says: Being able to harness wind power, as a renewable energy source on this scale can really transform our energy future and it is fantastic to see so many offshore wind farms being constructed and delivering power. Siemens is heavily involved in this. More than 50 per cent four gigawatts of the UKs wind energy is generated from Siemens technologies.

The UK needs to secure its energy future and ensure that it has a diverse and balanced supply. By utilising low-carbon technology for offshore and onshore wind farms, the UK can harness a form of sustainable power, which generates eco-friendly energy for thousands of homes. Of course such projects arent without their challenges. This megaproject saw three businesses come together alongside a plethora of tier one suppliers including Siemens to build a power station in the sea. Each individual turbine blade is 58m in diameter. Chris says: Building offshore wind farms, by their very nature, means the technology we construct is often undertaken in very challenging and arduous windy weather

conditions and high sea states. This creates uncertainty and risk, which has to be planned for and mitigated. Planning is key, but we cannot control the weather. When Mother Nature is against us, our task evolves into a dynamic challenge that must be managed on a daily basis. Chris says there were a number of big lessons he has learned from working on London Array that he will take away and share with other projects in Siemens. One fundamental lesson is that when managing a large-scale complex project or programme that encompasses multiple international stakeholders, main contractors and sub-contractors, who all have diverse international cultures, attitudes and backgrounds, you need to create a positive environment and

In numbers
LONDON ARRAY: PHASE ONE

90km2
the total offshore area occupied by the wind farm

175
wind turbines

450km
of offshore cabling

470,000
homes can be powered by the energy generated each year

The UK needs to secure its energy future and ensure that it has a

925,000
tonnes of CO2 saved annually collaboration that engages with this extended team. There is a need to be constantly alert to each part of this team, and to react quickly to the early warning indicators and address issues quickly and in an effective manor. Key to this is good leadership and effective communication. achieving PM@Siemens Certified Senior Project Manager status. This is a very significant professional and personal achievement, he says. It has some challenging requirements to meet including a rigorous internal review board which benchmarked my project management capability and competence when comparing me to the global PM@ Siemens standards. His certified status has helped him to move on to the next stage of his career and he is now responsible for all project activities globally. As he reflects on his time at sea, he has some sound advice to practitioners delivering projects of any size. Project management is as much about the management of change as it is about the management of the project and so always remain flexible to change. On large dynamic projects, things change frequently so be prepared and plan for a plan A, plan B and then have a plan C ready as well.
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diverse and balanced supply.

WINDy City
Since receiving its original consent in 2006, London Array has been working alongside Natural England and the RSPB to collect, analyse and review information on the Red Throated Divers that winter in the Thames Estuary. In October 2012, following the results of these studies, the London Array consortium submitted an application to the Department of Energy and Climate Change to allow phase two of the project to go ahead. If approved, the second phase will add enough capacity to bring the total to 870MW. As for Chris, during his time working on the project, he was successful in

As part of the Siemens set up, staff are trained in the internal project management methodology PM@ Siemens which sets key mandatory milestones and activities for the lifecycle of projects. The main project team, which was assembled in 2010, had all been exposed to PM@Siemens, something Chris believes was key to success. As a supplier on the project, public stakeholder engagement wasnt a direct
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