The world’s largest offshore wind farm at Walney, off the coast of Cumbria, has been opened by newly appointed energy and climate change secretary, Ed Davey.

The 3.6 megawatt (MW), £1.2 billion scheme was officially opened in Barrow-on-Furness on Thursday 9 February, with more than 100 turbines, generating enough renewably sourced electricity to power 320,000 homes.

5,000 people were employed during its development and it includes two separate turbine clusters – Walney 1 and Walney 2 – both in the Irish Sea.

The first 51 turbines were linked to the grid a year ago, and the second phase of the scheme was the quickest build of its kind, with all turbines and cables installed in less than six months, bringing considerable cost savings.

'Jewel in that crown'

Mr Davey said: "Britain has a lot to be proud of in our growing offshore wind sector. Our island's tremendous natural resource, our research base and a proud history of engineering make this the number one destination for investment in offshore wind.

"And Walney is the newest, biggest and fastest-built jewel in that crown, providing clean power for hundreds of thousands of households."

The scheme has been a joint venture between Danish firm, Dong Energy, British firm, SSE, and OPW, which is a consortium of the Dutch pension fund, PGGM and energy investment fund, Ampere.

'New era'

Anders Eldrup, chief executive of Dong Energy said: "It marks a new era in terms of financing, being the first project in the UK backed by institutional investors. Walney is a landmark in offshore wind."

The new scheme will soon be dwarfed by a farm being built off the Kent coast – the London Array – which will feature 630 working turbines by the end of 2012.

Britain now generates 1,500MW of energy through offshore wind and the Government plans to boost its capacity to 18,000MW by 2020, to help meet rising energy demand.

The government says at least 110 billion pounds is needed by then to replace aging power plants, upgrade the grid and build renewable energy projects.

Mr Davey added: "Offshore wind can make a real contribution to our renewable energy target. The government wants this country to be a leader in the renewables sector. It is great news for our economy in terms of jobs that we create and exports."

Posted under Environmental Technologies and Renewable Energy
and Energy and Renewables on 22 February 2012