DONG Energy has today confirmed it will build the world's largest offshore wind farm off the coast of Yorkshire after taking a final investment decision on the high profile project.
The offshore wind farm will be the first in the world to have a capacity of more than 1GW, and once completed will generate enough energy to power "well over" a million homes in the UK, according to the company. It is expected to be fully commissioned by 2020, providing a boost to the UK's chances of meeting its renewable energy and carbon targets for the end of the decade.
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Amber Rudd welcomed the announcement, declaring the investment a "vote of confidence" in the UK's plans "to build an energy infrastructure fit for the 21st century".
"This project means secure, clean energy for the country, jobs and financial security for working people and their families, and more skills and growth boosting the Northern Powerhouse," she added.
The Hornsea Project One will be located around 120km off the Yorkshire coast, and span more than 407km square - an area five times the size of Hull. Its construction is expected to create 2,000 jobs, with a further 300 ongoing maintenance roles once the site is up and running.
Brent Cheshire, DONG Energy UK's country chairman, said the scheme will provide a boost to the local economy and strengthen the UK's offshore wind supply chain.
"This is a historic milestone for Hornsea Project One as we are now making a firm and final commitment to invest fully in the project. Almost a decade on from initial planning, and following years of vital development work from a number of different companies in the supply chain, we are now ready to build the world's largest offshore wind farm," he said in a statement.
The farm will use Siemen's 190-metre, 7MW offshore turbines to generate electricity, which will be brought to shore using more than 900km of cabling.
DONG Energy also has the project rights to Hornsea Project Two and Hornsea Project Three, which have a further 3GW of capacity potential. Last month the firm confirmed plans to invest a further £6bn over the next four years developing wind farms in the UK - a figure which includes investment in the Hornsea development.
The news comes in the same week as the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) published a new report detailing how offshore wind investment in Europe doubled in 2015 to €13.3bn as a record 3GW of new capacity came online.
The group said that a strong pipeline of projects meant the sector was likely to see capacity grow from 11GW currently to over 20GW by 2020. However, it also warned that more long term policy certainty was required for the post-2020 period if the industry is to continue recent progress in bringing down costs and maximising offshore wind power output.
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