A massive offshore windfarm that will soon be the world’s largest is due to supply its first power to the UK electricity grid this week.
The Hornsea One development will cover 407 square kilometres, almost exactly half the size of Canberra, with a capacity of 1.2 GW. Once completed this will make it the biggest offshore windfarm in the world, about twice as powerful as the largest today, the Walney Extension project in the Irish Sea.
However, this is just the first phase of the overall Hornsea Wind Farm, with three more projects expected to bring the total capacity to a maximum of 6 GW. That’s more than double the capacity of Australia’s biggest coal fired electricity power station, Eraring, which has a maximum capacity of 2.8 GW.
The project is being completed by Danish developer Ørsted, pioneers of the world’s first offshore wind farm in 1991 and a global leader in renewable energy technology. Mathew Wright, the company’s UK managing director, said that offshore wind power could power most of Europe with the right support.
“The ability to generate clean electricity offshore at this scale is a globally significant milestone at a time when urgent action needs to be taken to tackle climate change,” Wright said.
The UK receives huge amounts of wind each year, especially along its northern coastlines, and a shallow enough seabed to harness that energy by installing wind turbines. In 2017 the UK and Germany were responsible for installing 85% of new offshore wind power capacity in the European Union.
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- For information on wind energy in Australia, check out the Clean Energy Council.
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