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World’s Largest Wind Farm – ONLINE

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The United Kingdom – An Island Nation Serious About Cleanly Harnessing Their Natural Resources

capt.photo_1285245131338-1-0On Thursday September 23, 2010, off the coast of Kent, where the English Channel meets the North Sea in southeastern England, the world’s largest offshore wind farm went online. The Thanet Offshore Wind Farm consist of 100 wind turbines covering an area of 13.5 square miles (35 square kilometers), each turbine is 115 meters tall, generating enough electricity for 200,000 homes a year. The Swedish energy company Vattenfall which invested about 880 million pounds ($1.38 billion), operates the wind farms. The construction took just over two years and expected to operate for at least 25 years.

British waters are very windy, hence an ideal location for offshore wind farms, an offshore turbine in British waters is estimated to produce 50% more power than a similar one in Germany.

capt.photo_1285244979030-1-0According to the European OffShore Wind Industry half of the 16 offshore wind farms now under construction around Europe are in Britain. Wind can supply energy to nearly 3 million British homes, according to RenewableUK, a trade group for the wind and marine renewables industry.

Thanet Offshore Wind Farm generates 300 megawatts (MW) and pushes the UK’s installed wind power capacity above the 5 GW (Giga Watts) mark, enough electricity to power all the homes in Scotland. The farm’s nearest turbine to land is about 7.4 miles (12 kilometers) northeast of the town of Margate, far enough out that locals don’t object to the sight of the turbines offshore. Although Vattenfall said it expected a rise in tourism from people eager to see the site of the windmills in the distance.

Thanet will not remain the world’s largest operational offshore wind farm for long. Just north of the Thanet site, coming online by late 2012 or early 2013, the London Array with 341 turbines producing 1 gigawatt of power, becoming the world’s first 1 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind farm, generating enough green power for a quarter of all the homes in Greater London. (See Forced Green’s article, ‘A Green Light For Green Energy‘ )

Here’s a CNN video on the farm’s opening ceremonies:

Nearly two years ago the British were expressing public concern on how far the UK was lagging behind the rest of the world in sustainable energy goals and accomplishments ….. Well, not anymore! …… Rock on green Britannia! …….. Proud of ya!

as the green future unfolds.


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