Vattenfall Pumps €727 Million into U.K. Wind Sector

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Swedish energy major, Vattenfall AB (Stockholm, Sweden), has announced plans to invest €727 million ($982 million) in the U.K. wind sector with three new projects.

The company will build an onshore windfarm at Pen y Cymoedd, located in south Wales, near the Neath Port Talbot and Rhondda Cynon Taf. The 76-turbine project will have a combined capacity of 228-megawatts (MW), and be capable of providing electricity for approximately 140,000 households. Construction will commence in 2014 and the windfarm will start generating its first power by the end of 2016.

The second smaller project is the 18-turbine Clashindarroch Wind Farm, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where construction has just gotten underway. It will be commissioned in early 2015 and with a generating capacity of just under 40 MW it will be capable of powering around 22,000 homes.

"Currently, the U.K. market for investing in onshore wind power is an attractive market for Vattenfall because the Government has backed its development as a crucial part of its growth agenda," said Peter Smink, Vattenfall's Director for Business Division for Sustainable Energy Projects.

Vattenfall has also announced that it is going to extend its existing 90 MW Kentish Flats offshore windfarm with the addition of 15 turbines at the site in 2015, delivering an extra 49.5 MW of capacity. First power is expected to be generated in the fourth quarter of 2015, with the project completed by the first quarter of 2016. The company received the green light from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) back in February. For additional information, see February 27, 2013, article - U.K. Approves Kentish Flats Offshore Extension.

Project manager Matthew Green said the company would now start detailed engineering and planning work. "Vattenfall's decision to invest around £150 million in Kentish Flats Extension is the final hurdle that needs to be cleared before construction can start in 2015," he explained. "It's good to get that and I'm looking forward to leading the construction team over the next two and a half years."

The extension is being constructed as part of the Crown Estate's Round 2.5, which set out to create an additional 1,700 MW of offshore capacity in the U.K..

The U.K. Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, added: "I am delighted that Vattenfall are going to proceed with the Kentish Flats Extension project. This is testament to the power of inward investment in the U.K.. Offshore wind is a major success story for the U.K. which brings economic benefit to our shores, supports thousands of skilled jobs and is an important contributor to our energy mix."

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