Five offshore wind farm sites will be extended creating an additional 1.7 GW. A further 340 MW has been offered to increase capacity within the current Round 1 & 2 offshore wind farm site areas for two other projects.
Each wind farm area extension will require a full, new planning application including an Environmental Impact Assessment and a full consultation.
Wind farm extensions are expected to commence in 2014 with completion by the end of 2016.
The Crown Estate says that “the extensions will benefit from synergies with the original projects, with in some cases the potential for the sharing of construction crews and vessels, as well as electrical systems, construction bases, ports and onshore facilities.”
Five offshore wind farms with extended area:
| Operator |
Original project name |
Extension project name |
Capacity |
Area |
| SSE Renewables and RWE Npower Renewables |
Greater Gabbard |
Galloper Wind Farm |
504 MW |
174.9 km2 |
| Vattenfall Wind Power |
Kentish Flats |
Kentish Flats 2 |
51 MW |
8.3 km2 |
| Vattenfall Wind Power |
Thanet |
Thanet 2 |
147 MW |
17.2 km2 |
| DONG Wind UK |
Burbo Bank |
Burbo Bank Extension |
234 MW |
39.7 km2 |
| DONG Wind UK |
Walney |
Walney Extension |
750 MW |
146.2 km2 |
Offshore wind farms with extensions within existing site boundary
| Operator |
Original project name |
Additional Capacity |
| Centrica Renewable Energy |
Race Bank |
80 MW |
| Warwick Energy |
Dudgeon |
260 MW |
Comments
Rob Hastings, the Crown Estate’s Director of the Marine Estate, says: “[The] 2 GW has been driven by developers’ appetite and will increase the total potential 2020 installed capacity to 48 GW. It is another positive step in the maturing of the offshore wind industry and will significantly support the growth of the supply chain as it adds further to the pipeline of construction projects.”
RenewableUK Chief Executive Maria McCaffery, adds: “The site extensions come as a direct consequence of the UK’s world beating offshore wind farms showing that, after a successful start, they have further potential for growth. It is clear that developers are condiment projects will continue to deliver and we welcome the Crown Estate’s timely action in ensuring that this happens.”
Peter Madigan, RenewableUK’s Head of Offshore Renewables, says: “The UK now has 40 GW+ of offshore wind projects at various stages of development, and has established itself as world leader with over 1 GW installed. When fully built out, this potential will supply a full third of our nation’s electricity, or more than 130 TWh per annum. Since the beginning of the year we have seen investment totalling £0.5 million, from some of the world’s best-known companies, backing this project. The zone extensions show the offshore revolution is well under way.”
DONG Energy’s CEO Anders Eldrup, says: “The extension projects are a natural progression of our Burbo Bank and Walney projects. Providing the possibility of medium and long term planning with a stable flow of construction projects allows DONG Energy to interact with and develop the supply chain.
“We also have an opportunity to strengthen our commitment to the UK offshore wind market, which just passed the 1 GW milestone for installed offshore capacity partly due to the commissioning of our 172 MW Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm. DONG Energy has delivered around a third of the 1 GW capacity through the Barrow, Burbo Bank and Gunfleet Sands projects.”