The world鈥檚 largest offshore wind farm has started feeding power into the British grid for the first time as turbines started spinning at the site in the North Sea.
The first turbines on the Dogger Bank wind farm, which is still under construction, have produced their first electricity. When complete, its 3.6 gigawatts of capacity makes it the largest offshore wind farm in the world and it also has the largest number of turbines of any offshore wind farm.
The turbines that are installed at the site 鈥 around 130 kilometres off the coast of Yorkshire 鈥 have 107-metre long blades, and one single rotation of those blades produces enough electricity to power two homes all day.
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When fully operational, the full wind farm will be able to power the equivalent of six million homes per year. It will produce this electricity at between 拢39.65 and 拢41.61 per megawatt hour, in 2012 prices. At the time of writing the price of a megawatt hour of electricity in Great Britain was considerably higher, at 拢117 per MWh.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: 鈥淥ffshore wind is critical to generating renewable, efficient energy that can power British homes from British seas.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud that this country is already a world leader in reaching Net Zero by 2050, and by doubling down on the new green industries of the future, we鈥檒l get there in a way that鈥檚 both pragmatic and ambitious. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 fantastic to see the world鈥檚 largest wind farm, Dogger Bank, generating power for the first time today from 海角视频 waters, which will not only bolster our energy security, but create jobs, lower electricity bills and keep us on track for Net Zero.鈥
The wind farm is being developed and built by SSE Renewables, Norway鈥檚 Equinor and Vargronn.
鈥淒ogger Bank will provide a significant boost to 海角视频 energy security, affordability and leadership in tackling climate change. This is exactly how we should be responding to the energy crisis,鈥 said SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies. 鈥淏ut it is also a landmark moment for the global offshore wind industry, with Dogger Bank demonstrating just what can be achieved when policymakers, investors, industry and communities work together to achieve something truly remarkable.鈥
John Twomey, director of customer connections for National Grid, said: 鈥淒ogger Bank鈥檚 first power is a momentous engineering achievement and marks another milestone in Britain鈥檚 clean energy transition. It鈥檚 a particularly proud moment for our connections and asset operations teams, whose work reinforcing our Creyke Beck substation to connect the wind farm鈥檚 green power to our network is a key part of this project鈥檚 success story.鈥
The wind farm has its maintenance and operations base at the Port of Tyne.
