UK Prime Minister David Cameron has officially opened the London Array, the world’s largest wind farm situated in the Outer Thames Estuary.
The wind farm, developed by DONG Energy, E.ON and Masdar, first started generating power in October 2012 and the 175th turbine was brought online in March this year. Now that the facility is operating fully, it could potentially supply around 500,000 homes per year with clean green electricity fed directly into the national grid.
“This is a great day for Kent and a great day for Britain” said Mr Cameron at the inauguration ceremony which was attended by over 350 people and held at Turner Contemporary in Margate, Kent.
“London Array has been built by some of the bravest seamen, the most talented engineers and hardest workers. It will bring benefits to Kent for years to come” the Prime Minister added.
London Array is located around 20 kilometres off the coasts of Kent and Essex on a 100 square kilometre site. It has a capacity of 630MW generated by a total of 175 Siemens 3.6MW turbines. DONG Energy has a 50 percent stake in the project with E.ON owning 30 percent and Masdar the remaining 20 percent. The UK is currently one of the primary markets for DONG Energy with regard to developing offshore wind and the company has invested £3 billion in UK renewables since 2005. The London Array is the latest of five offshore wind farms to be commissioned by the company in the UK with two, the Lincs and West of Duddon Sands projects, currently under construction with the company’s partners. A demonstration project at Gunfleet Sands is also owned by DONG Energy as part of the company’s strategy to reduce the cost of offshore wind and reach a target of 100 euros per megawatt hour for projects sanctioned in 2020.
E.ON is one of the world’s largest power and gas companies and is active in both onshore and offshore wind, concentrating solar power (CSP), solar PV and biomass. It currently owns and operates at least three offshore wind farms in UK waters.
Masdar is Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company which is focused on advancing the development, commercialisation and deployment of clean energy technologies and solutions. The company aims to serve as a link between the global fossil fuel economy and renewables. The company entered the London Array consortium when it purchased 40 percent of E.ON’s half share giving Masdar a 20% stake in the project overall. The London Array investment is part of Masdar’s global alternative energy strategy which includes solar, wind and other renewable technologies.
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