Vattenfall to Build Kentish Flats Offshore Extension

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Swedish energy utility, Vattenfall AB (Stockholm, Sweden), has announced that it is to go ahead and build a 15-turbine extension to its Kentish Flats offshore windfarm in the U.K..

The Kentish Flats Extension (KFE) received the green light in February this year and the final investment decision by Vattenfall's Board of Directors will see an additional 49.5 megawatts (MW) of capacity added to the existing 90 MW windfarm, which lies approximately 8.5-13 kilometers (km) north of Herne Bay and Whitstable in Kent. For additional information, see February 27, 2013, article - U.K. Approves Kentish Flats Offshore Extension.

The extension will cost in excess of €174 million ($228 million) and when commissioned in 2015 it will generate enough power to supply 42,000 households.

"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" explained Matthew Green, Vattenfall Project Manager for the scheme. "It's good to get that and I'm looking forward to leading the construction team over the next two and a half years. We will now complete a period of intense detailed engineering and planning for the construction phase in 2015."

U.K. Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, welcomed the decision: "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. The U.K. is well placed to maintain its position as the world's biggest offshore wind market out to 2020."

The U.K. is a major market for Vattenfall. It already operates the 300 MW Thanet offshore windfarm and announced last month that, including the Kentish Flats Extension, it plans to sink €727 million ($982 million) into the U.K. wind sector. This will include an onshore windfarm at Pen y Cymoedd, located in south Wales, with 76 turbines and a generating capacity of 228 MW. It will 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. For additional information, see November 7, 2013, article - Vattenfall Pumps €727 Million into U.K. Wind Sector.

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