Dong Energy to build 660 MW Walney Extension

Thursday, 29 October, 2015 - 11:15

The 660 MW Walney Extension will be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm. (Graphic: Dong Energy)

Dong Energy has decided to construct the 660 MW Walney Extension offshore wind farm, located in the Irish Sea, approximately 19 km off the west coast of Britain. It will be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm.

The final investment decision has been made after securing all necessary consents from authorities, completing site assessments and having signed the majority of the contracts for supply and installation to build the project. Thereby, Dong has decided to apply two different turbines: 40 MHI Vestas 8 MW turbines and 47 Siemens 7 MW offshore turbines.

Walney Extension is expected to be fully commissioned in 2018, at which time it will be the biggest offshore wind farm in the world, surpassing the 630 MW London Array which was commissioned in 2014. Walney Extension will be constructed and operated under the UK's EMR FID-enabling regime with a fixed price for the first 15 years of production.

“Building this offshore wind farm will bring us significantly closer to realising our strategy of having 6.5 GW of installed capacity online by 2020”, says Samuel Leupold, Executive Vice President at Dong Energy. “British offshore wind has seen phenomenal growth in recent years. A prerequisite for long term growth in the industry is that offshore wind eventually can compete on costs with other energy technologies. Building Walney Extension will bring us one step closer to that target. I’m also excited about the fact that turbine blades, part of the foundations and cable installation will come from UK manufacturing facilities and vessels and create local jobs”, he continues.

Katharina Garus / Dong Energy

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