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Walney Offshore Wind Farm Could Double in Size

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March 13, 2013

Walney Offshore Wind Farm Could Double in Size

By Cheryl Kaften
TMCnet Contributor

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As it turns out, size does matter. At the moment, the 504-megawatt (MW) Greater Gabbard Wind Farm located 14 miles off the coast of Suffolk, England in the North Sea is the largest offshore plant of its kind worldwide; followed by the 367-MW Walney Wind Farm, which is eight miles west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria, England, in the Irish Sea. But all that is about to change.


Or is it? Both projects have revealed their intention to expand, but Walney—engineered, constructed, and operated by a consortium led by Fredericia, Denmark-based Dong Energy—seems to be on a slightly faster track, having already completed its second public consultation.

Specifically, Dong, which owns 51 percent of the project and has partnered with Scottish and Southern Energy (25.1 percent) and Consortium of PGGM and Dutch Ampère Equity Fund (24.8 percent) has planned an Extension Project that would cover an area of up to 57 square miles, or twice the current 28 square miles covered by the Walney sites. It would generate up to 750 MW of electricity.




The Walney Wind Farm has been in operation for slightly more than one year. As of today, the farm which was built expeditiously at a cost of $1.58 billion using parallel, side-by-side construction plans operates a cumulative 102 Siemens (News - Alert)-sourced turbines and generates enough power for about 320,000 homes. The Extension Project would add up 120 turbines, sufficient to provide power for about 500,000 more homes.

The company signed a lease agreement with the Crown Estate in May 2010. The proposal is expected to be submitted to the United Kingdom’s Planning Inspectorate for approval this year and, subject to that consent, to start construction in 2014. It is slated to be up and running by 2017.

Southampton, England-based ABPmer, a leading U.K. marine environmental consultancy, was appointed to conduct the environmental impact assessment for the extension.

Wind farms have often proved controversial as sources of renewable energy, with the Duke of Edinburgh once describing them as “absolutely useless,” according to The Telegraph.




Edited by Jamie Epstein

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