Joint venture partners RWE Innogy and SSE have officially opened one of the largest wind farms in the UK located 23 kilometres off the coast of Suffolk and covering an area of 147 square kilometres. The 140 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 3.6MW, stand in water depths between 24 and 34 metres and are now producing enough energy to supply around 530,000 households.
Michael Fallon, the UK Minister of State for Energy, was also present at the opening ceremony. Around £1.6 billion worth of investment and over eight million working hours have been injected into developing and constructing the project which has also seen the creation of around 100 new jobs at the operations and maintenance base at Lowestoft. The project began in 2008 with construction being completed in September 2012.
“An incredible amount of partnership working, innovation and hard work has resulted in the successful completion of Greater Gabbard” said Dr Hans Bünting, CEO of RWE Innogy. “Offshore and onshore wind technologies are a perfect match for the future energy mix in Europe. Now is the time to set the course for offshore wind in Europe for the next investment period, especially in the UK and Germany, the major growth markets for offshore wind in the EU.”
Substantial progress has been achieved in both the number and scale of offshore wind farm developments according to Alistair Phillips-Davies, the Chief Executive of SSE.
“Greater Gabbard has been a pioneering project during this period and can proudly take its place as a major milestone in the development of the UK offshore wind industry” Mr Phillips-Davies added. “For many years it was the largest wind farm under development world-wide and was the first to be sited more than 12 miles offshore. It continues to be the furthest from the shore and in the deepest water of any UK offshore wind asset. The success offshore brings onshore benefits to local people, businesses and the wider economy.”
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