They are becoming increasingly familiar off our shores and yet remain something of a mystery to many. SUSIE KEARLEY delves deep into the story of the UK’s offshore wind farms
Along our beautiful coasts, you’ll see offshore wind turbines generating clean energy for homes and businesses across the UK. According to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in 2021 the average electricity consumption for a British household was 3,898 KWh. As the population grows, demand for power will increase too, so turbines are an important part of our renewable energy mix.
According to RenewableUK.com there are currently 43 offshore wind farms around the British coast, comprising 2,652 wind turbines with an operational capacity of 13,660.020 megawatts. Almost 21 million homes in the UK are powered by wind, and our wind farms currently save about 34 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
Britain’s first offshore wind farm was a demonstration project off the Northumberland coast. It was constructed in 2000 with two 2MW turbines less than 2km from land. They were the largest off shore wind turbines in the world at the time.
The first commercial offshore wind farm was constructed in 2003, off the coast of north Wales. It’s called North Hoyle and comprises 30 2MW turbines about 8km from shore. It was followed by a succession of other projects submitted in round one of the application process.
The last of the 12 approved projects wasn’t installed until 2013, and five of those originally submitted in round one were later withdrawn on environmental grounds.
The completed round one projects now generate 1.2GW of electricity. By the end of 2003 another 15 projects had been awarded planning permission to generate a further of 7.2GW of electricity.
NEXT GENERATION
In 2021, the Crown Estate allocated new areas for offshore wind farms to generate a further 8GW of electricity. ScotWind, launched in July 2021, is the Crown Estate’s project to create new wind farms in Scottish waters. One of its objectives is to create floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea, generating 4GW of electricity.
In August 2022, Hornsea 2 was the latest wind farm to go into operation, powering more than 1.4 million homes. It’s also the world’s biggest offshore wind farm.
The same month, a lease agreement was signed for Arven Offshore Wind Farm, a floating offshore site that will create employment in Scotland and the Shetland Islands, and generate 1.8GW of electricity.
The British government is committed to in
