London Array: Difference between revisions
add Masdar investment |
→External links: cleanup |
||
| Line 39: | Line 39: | ||
==External links== |
==External links== |
||
*[http://www.londonarray.com/ Official Site] |
|||
*[http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/envronmt/climate/2007/1011sea.htm A Sea Change: The Wind Farm Revolution] |
|||
[[Category:Offshore wind farms]] |
[[Category:Offshore wind farms]] |
||
Revision as of 18:17, 19 October 2008
Template:Future power plant The London Array is a planned offshore wind farm in the outer Thames Estuary in the United Kingdom. Of 1 gigawatt capacity, it is expected to become the world's largest offshore wind farm. [1]
The site is seven miles off the North Foreland on the Kent coast in the area of Long Sand and Kentish Knock,[2] and will cover 90 square miles between Margate in Kent and Clacton in Essex.
The completed wind farm will consist of 341 wind turbines of around 3 MW to 7 MW rated capacity,[3] which will provide an average power output of 350 MW at the smallest proposed turbine size. The higher rated turbines to be installed at the latter stages of construction and would provide considerably more power. The proposers say this is enough to power a quarter of the homes in Greater London or the entire counties of Kent and East Sussex. The wind farm was planned to be built by London Array Limited, a consortium of Shell WindEnergy Ltd, E.ON UK Renewables and DONG Energy, [4] at a cost of £2bn. The original cost was around £1bn. [5]
In May 2008, Shell announced that it was pulling out of the project, leaving the consortium in disarray.[6] However it was announced in July that E.ON UK and DONG Energy would buy Shell's stake.[7] Subsequently on 16 October 2008, London Array announced the Abu Dhabi-based Masdar Initiative would join E.ON as a joint venture party in the scheme. Under the agreement, Masdar purchased 40 per cent of E.ON’s half share of the scheme, giving Masdar a 20% stake in the project overall. The accompanying press release confirmed that the proposed completion date for the first stage will be some time in 2012 and will consist of up to 175 turbines. The second stage (bringing the revised total to 271 turbines) will add enough capacity to generate 1,000MW for 750,000 homes.[8]
The turbines are to be assembled at Port Ramsgate.
Progress and timetable
- 18 December 2006—planning permission for turbines granted, but siting of onshore substation is being contested [9]
- 2007—planning permission for onshore substation granted [5]
- 2008—first turbines expected [10]
- 2012—completion date estimate as of October 2008[8]
See also
- Thanet Offshore Wind Project - a 300 MW consented offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary
- Greater Gabbard - a 500 MW consented offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary
- Kentish Flats [1] - a 90 MW operational offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary
- Wind power in the United Kingdom
References
- ^ London Array official site
- ^ London Array boundary map (PDF)
- ^ London Array official turbine information
- ^ London Array project introduction
- ^ a b Murray J, "Thames Array gets planning green light", BusinessGreen blog, 2007-10-05
- ^ Shell pulls out of key wind power project, Financial Times, 01 May 2008
- ^ "E.ON and DONG Energy become 50:50 partners in world's largest offshore wind farm". The London Array. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
- ^ a b "E.ON and Masdar have joined forces as partners in the London Array offshore wind farm project" (PDF). The London Array. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ^ Voss, S, Giant Wind Farm Pits English Town Against Shell, E.ON, Bloomberg, 2006-12-15
- ^ Offshore wind farms get go-ahead, BBC News, 2006-12-18