World’s largest offshore wind farm to be built off Yorkshire coast
The Guardian reports, 3rd February 2016: An offshore windfarm is to be built off the UK coast. The Hornsea Project One will be located around 120km off the Yorkshire coast, and span more than 407km square.
Dong Energy said its multi-billion pound Hornsea project, which is expected when complete to power as many as 1m homes in the region, will occupy more than 400 square kilometres, situated about 120km off the Yorkshire coast.
The company, which has already put £6bn into wind power in the UK, said this was its largest investment in offshore wind to date. Dong, Denmark’s state-backed energy utility, told the Guardian it expected to invest another £6bn in the UK by 2020, in a fillip to the beleaguered wind industry.
Amber Rudd, secretary of state for energy and climate change, said: “The UK is the world leader in offshore wind energy and this success story is going from strength to strength. The investment shows that we are open for business and is a vote of confidence in the UK and our plan to tackle the legacy of under investment and build an energy infrastructure fit for the twenty first century.”
An estimated 2,000 jobs will be created for the construction of the project, with a further 300 jobs likely to be created for its operation.
RenewableUK, which represents the UK’s wind power industry, said the Hornsea project was a major step forward.
The 1.2GW Hornsea project will be made up of 7MW wind turbines, the largest generally available, each more than 190m high, which is taller than the Gherkin building in the City of London. Dong is planning to have them built at a factory in Hull owned by Siemens, the German industrial giant, but it is uncertain whether all of them will come from there.
The green light for the Hornsea wind farm is also a boost to three other mooted offshore wind farms that are in the offing: Neart na Gaoithe and Beatrice One in Scotland, and East Anglia One.
Source: The Guardian, 3rd February 2016. For the full details, see www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/03/worlds-largest-offshore-windfarm-to-be-built-off-yorkshire-coast
