World's largest wind farm to be built off UK coast

by Amy Judd | May 12, 2009 at 01:07 pm

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The world's largest wind farm has been given the green light to be built 12 miles off the Kent coast in the UK, and it will be operational before the Olympics in 2012.

There will be 341 wind turbines over a 90 mile area and it will power 750,000 homes, a quarter of which will be in the Greater London area. For a while it was thought that the project would not go ahead because Royal Dutch Shell pulled out of the deal, and they were providing a lot of money.

However, Germany's E.ON, Denmarks Dong Energy, and Masdar collectively put in two million pounds and the project could go ahead.

The first phase will consist of 175 turbines and will power 500,000 homes, and will be running by 2012. Onshore work will start this summer, with offshore work starting in 2011.

Gordon Brown said:

He said: "The London Array is a flagship project in our drive to cut emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and meet future energy needs. The UK is a world leader in offshore wind farms, creating jobs and prosperity for the economy.