World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm Back on Track
The world’s biggest offshore wind farm was revived yesterday when German-based energy group E.ON and the Danish utility Dong Energy agreed to acquire Shell’s 33% stake in the 1,000-megawatt London Array.
The two firms, which each own a one-third stake in the project will now become 50-50 partners by buying out Shell, the former third partner. Shell decided to withdraw from the London Array project back in May after a strategic review indicated that the project would not bring sufficient rates of return on the investment. Industry-wide cost inflation has raised the cost of the project to more than £2.5bn ($5 billion U.S.), well above the original estimates of £1.5bn three years ago.
The purchase came as a major relief for a British government that is lagging behind the pace it needs to keep for its renewable energy targets of 15% by 2020. The news also came on the day the biggest onshore wind farm in Europe – planned for Scotland – was given final approval.
There are currently 176 wind energy projects that would produce 2,546 megawatts currently in the planning stages across the UK – enough to supply electricity to 1.4 million British homes (British Wind Energy Association).
After much political opposition to the aesthetics of wind farms in the UK, is it safe to say there has been a significant shift in how British perceive the wind farms? Or is it out of economic rationality and political necessity that there is a push to expand the British wind energy portfolio?
Other posts about offshore wind:
- “Texas Oil Co. Will Recycle Offshore Oil Platforms for Wind Turbines”: CleanTechnica
- “MMS Receives 40,000+ Comments on Cape Wind”:: Red, Green, & Blue
- “First Full Scale Floating Wind Mill”:: CleanTechnica
- “Breaking: MMS Report Favorable on Cape Wind” :: sustainablog
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Photo Credit: © Rodiks | Dreamstime.com
Map Credit: BWEA
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July 22nd, 2008 at 2:59 pm
[...] read more | digg story [...]
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Big thanks to those of you who pointed out the typo that read: “1.4 British homes,” when it should have read “1.4 million homes.” The post has been updated with the proper number. Thanks again for being so sharp and keeping us on our toes!
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Dude that is going to be so cool. Can you imagine.
JT
http://www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Very cool stuff…I have a feeling we’ll be seeing much more wind power in the US in the coming years!
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Really cool to see this technology. Environment friendly.
July 25th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Why not combine wind,wave, and solar into one offshore structure wouldn’t this be more cost effective? I envision a network of combination wind/wave towers connected with a solar canopy.
August 14th, 2008 at 8:01 am
[...] World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm Back on Track [...]
September 18th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
[...] World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm Back on Track [...]
December 10th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
[...] developments in things like the ‘the world’s first tidal power turbine‘ or ‘the world’s largest offshore wind farm.’ To set the record straight, we don’t do this only for the purposes of [...]
December 15th, 2009 at 6:06 am
[...] London Array has been a long time coming. Environmental studies began in 2001, and the licensing process goes [...]