World’s largest offshore wind farm approved for Yorkshire

The energy secretary has given the green light for the world’s largest offshore wind farm to be built on the Yorkshire coast. The development is expected to provide enough energy to power two million homes.

The development comes from the Forewind consortium, which is owned by four energy firms, RWE, SSE, Statkraft and Statoil. The consent approval comes after four years of assessments and stakeholder consultations, with more than £60 million spent on surveys.

The project, Dogger Bank Creyky Beck, will compromise of two separate wind farms, each with up to 200 turbines with a generating capacity of 1.2 gigawatt, enough to power two million homes. The wind farms will be located 131 kilometres from the UK coast across an area of around 500 kilometres squared.

Once constructed, the wind farm is expected to be one of the UK’s largest power generators, second only to the Drax coal-fired station in North Yorkshire. Dogger Bank Creyke could create up to 4,750 jobs, including indirect roles, and generate more than £1.5 billion for the UK economy.

General manager of the project, Tarald Gjerde said achieving consent for what is currently the world’s largest offshore wind project would help confirm the UK’s position as the world leaders in the industry.

Energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey approved the application. He said, “This is another great boost for Yorkshire and Humberside. This development has the potential to support hundreds of green jobs and power up to 2 million homes.

“Making the most of Britain’s home grown energy is creating jobs and businesses in the UK, getting the best deal for consumers and reducing our reliance on foreign imports. Wind power is vital to this plan, with £14.5 billion invested since 2010 into an industry which supports 35,400 jobs.”

Photo: phault via Flickr

Further reading:

Green Investment Bank refinances UK offshore wind project

Stable, long-term policy needed to push offshore wind, says EWEA

UK Green Investment Bank hires two offshore wind directors

Wind farms an ‘attractive long-term’ investment opportunity

Wind power vital for cutting import costs and improving energy resilience