The 2.4-gigawatt project in the North Sea will cost USD 12.5 billion

August 5, 2015

The U.K. authorized the Forewind consortium of four European utilities to build the joint-largest offshore wind project in the world. The two 1.2-gigawatt wind farms, called Dogger Bank Teesside A&B, total almost four times the capacity of the largest operational project. They won development permission from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, according to a statement e-mailed Wednesday by the Planning Inspectorate.

The U.K. is banking on offshore wind to help meet its renewable energy and carbon targets without blotting the onshore landscape. The 2.4-gigawatt project in the North Sea matches the size of the Dogger Bank Creyke Beck development also by Forewind, which won planning consent in February. The latest project, costing as much as 8 billion pounds (USD 12.5 billion), will be built by a consortium consisting of RWE AG, SSE Plc, Statkraft AS and Statoil ASA.

The biggest offshore wind farm currently in operation is the 630-megawatt London Array. Britain has more installed offshore wind capacity than the rest of the world put together, according to Global Wind Energy Council figures. The U.K. had about 4.5 gigawatts of capacity out of a global total of 8.8 gigawatts at the end of 2014.