Monday 9 July 2012

New £3bn wind farms to boost UK’s capacity

The Government has given consent for the construction of two wind farms, which it claims will be a huge boost to the nation's capacity. The turbines will be built on the Norfolk coast with a total capacity of more than 1GW.

Centrica's Race Bank and Warwick Energy's Dudgeon wind projects represent around £3billion worth of investment. They are expected to generate enough electricity to power 730,000 homes.

This brings the UK's offshore wind power to a total of 6.6GW which is either operational, under construction or has been given consent. A report by DECC last year said the UK could have up to 18GW of offshore wind capacity by 2020.

Charles Hendry, the Energy Minister said: “The UK is racing ahead of the global field and these two new offshore wind farms underline this momentum.

“These two projects will not only bring us considerable amounts of clean energy, but significant investment and jobs too.”

A third application to build wind farms in the same area at Docking Shoal, however, was refused due to the potential impact on seabirds in the area.