London, 17 June 2010 – Dong Energy, one of G!E’s members, has just opened a 172MW offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary.
Although operational since March, it was\ only formally inaugurated on June 16 by UK energy minister Charles Hendry who hailed the project as a forerunner for other large-scale offshore wind farms.
“Our island is surrounded by some of the windiest coast in the world and that’s a resource we’ve got to use,” he said. “I want to make sure we grab all the opportunities the rapidly expanding offshore wind industry has to offer, and that offshore wind power can come of age under this government.”
The windfarm will produce the equivalent of the annual power consumption of around 125,000 British households.
DONG already operates the 90MW Burbo Bank offshore wind farm in Liverpool Bay and holds a 50 per cent stake in the 90MW Barrows wind farm alongside energy giant Centrica.
DONG is also part of the consortium working on the 1GW Thames Array. The company announced last week that it had secured a £250m loan from the European Investment Bank to help finance the Thames Array project, which when completed is expected to be the largest offshore wind farm in the world.