Final Turbine in at Giant London Array Windfarm

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- The final turbine has been installed at the London Array windfarm in the U.K., the largest offshore wind project in the world.

The windfarm, located in the Thames Estuary in England, comprises 175 wind turbines rated at 3.6-megawatts (MW) each and will be capable of generating 630 MW of electricity when it is fully commissioned in Spring next year. Owned jointly by Dong Energy A/S (Fredericia, Denmark) (50%), Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) (20%) and German energy giant E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY) (Dusseldorf, Germany) (30%), London Array will be capable of providing enough power for approximately 470,00 homes.

Last month, the windfarm started producing its first power and according to Dong Energy, 55 of the turbines are now connected to the grid. For additional information, see November 1, 2012, article - First Power from World's Largest Offshore Windfarm.

In 2012, 84 foundations, 175 wind turbines, 178 array cables and three export cables have been installed at the project.

"Having the final turbine installed is another landmark in this flagship project for the UK and for Dong Energy," said Benj Sykes, Head of Dong Energy's U.K. Wind business. "The London Array will soon be the largest operational offshore wind farm in the world - building offshore wind farms of this size and larger in the future allows us to harvest the advantages of scale and is an important element of our strategy to drive down the cost of energy."

The second phase of the London Array will, if approved, add an additional 240 MW to the Array, bringing the total generation capacity to 870 MW. This is less than the original goal of 1,000 MW. The reduction was blamed on the discovery last year of a large population of rare birds on the site of the planned expansion. For additional information, see October 18, 2011, article - Birds Threaten Largest Offshore Windfarm.

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