Vattenfall had previously agreed with The Crown Estate to take forward the development of the ‘Norfolk Vanguard’ project, named after one of Lord Nelson’s ships, into the planning process with a target capacity of 1.8 GW . The offshore wind farm site is located 47 kilometres off the Norfolk coast and will generate enough power to meet the annual needs of more than 1.3 million UK households, delivering a significant boost to future low cost, low carbon, energy generation.
The UK government has said it expects the offshore wind sector to make an increasing contribution to the UK generation mix with capacity doubling to 20 GW by 2030 as costs reduce. Late last year, Vattenfall said it was targeting a tripling of wind power capacity to 7 GW across northern Europe by 2025 as it moves to a more sustainable energy business.
“Vattenfall wants to work with Norfolk to capture the benefits of offshore wind” said Ruari Lean, Vattenfall’s Project Manager for Norfolk Vanguard. “There is an opportunity for Norfolk business and securing Norfolk jobs. There is also an opportunity to make a telling impact in the UK’s contribution to tackling climate change.”
Andy Paine, Vattenfall’s Project Director for Norfolk Vanguard and head of UK offshore wind, added that as the industry grows costs will fall, which is why the offshore wind sector has a great future in the UK. An industry is emerging in Norfolk and the region is well placed to secure an even bigger role in the sector.
Vattenfall has also agreed with The Crown Estate to develop Norfolk Boreas, also with a target capacity of 1.8GW. The development of Norfolk Boreas will start in 2017.
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