World's Largest Offshore Turbine Installed
The first of 32 eight megawatt wind turbines, the largest in the world, has been successfully installed at the Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm in Liverpool Bay in the U.K.
The development, under construction by Dong Energy, involves turbines 195 meters (640 feet) high from MHI Vestas.
This is not the first time Dong Energy has pioneered new technology in this area. The project is being built alongside the existing Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm which was the first offshore wind farm to use the Siemens 3.6MW turbines now used widely across the industry.
Burbo Bank Extension is located in the Irish Sea seven kilometers (four miles) from the coast of Liverpool, and it covers an area of 40 square kilometers (15 square miles). Once completed, the 258MW wind farm will generate enough electricity to power over 230,000 U.K. homes.
When Burbo Bank Extension has been fully commissioned, expectedly in the first half of 2017, Dong Energy will have 18 offshore wind farms in production – 11 in the UK.
Claus Bøjle Møller, Project Director at Dong Energy, said: “By using bigger turbines, we’re able to bring down the cost of providing clean, renewable energy to homes around the U.K.”
The project is a joint partnership between Dong Energy (50 percent), PKA (25 percent) and Kirkbi (25 percent).