Britain backs expansion of world’s largest wind farm

The giant Hornsea Project Two wind farm off the coast of Yorkshire is on track to become the world’s largest offshore wind project, after Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark today granted development consent to the 1.8GW project.

When complete, the windfarm will deliver up to 1,800 megawatts of low carbon electricity to around 1.8 million United Kingdom homes. The project is about 89 kilometers off the Yorkshire coast in northwest England, and will create nearly 2,000 construction jobs and 580 operations and maintenance posts, according to the statement. A total capital investment of €1.6 billion ($1.96 billion) was raised from equity investors and bank lenders on a non-recourse project financing basis.

The United States has trailed European nations in the installation of offshore wind, but as the country ramps up clean energy goals, it is increasingly looking out to sea for renewable power.

Giant turbines generating enough energy for two million homes are to built in the flight paths of two of iconic seabirds.

The zone overlaps with several large-scale offshore wind projects in planning or development, including Hornsea Project Two.

At 1.8 gigawatts, Hornsea Project Two will surpass the 1.2-gigawatt Hornsea Project One, which has been approved but is not yet built. “A project of this size will help in our efforts to continue reducing the cost of electricity from offshore wind and shows our commitment to investing in the United Kingdom”.

“The lack of transparency and details on future CfD rounds means Dong will have to sit and wait to see if there is room for this huge offshore wind farm in future CfD budgets”. We have already invested £6bn in the United Kingdom, and Hornsea Project Two provides us with another exciting development opportunity in offshore wind. The government said its next round of renewable funding will focus on offshore wind and has said around 10 GW of capacity could be installed by the end of the decade.

The Planning Inspectorate’s report and Clark’s decision letter can be found here.