Ørsted has officially opened its Walney Extension project, the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
The Danish energy company has a 50 per cent stake in the 659 MW wind farm, located in the Irish Sea 20 km off the west coast of England. It features 47 MHI Vestas 8 MW turbines and 40 Siemens Gamesa 7 MW turbines, and is Ørsted’s 11th operational offshore wind farm in the UK.
“The UK is the global leader in offshore wind and Walney Extension showcases the industry’s incredible success story,” said Matthew Wright, Ørsted UK managing director. “The project, completed on time and within budget, also marks another important step towards Ørsted’s vision of a world that runs entirely on green energy.
Walney extension overtakes the 630 MW London Array offshore wind farm as the largest offshore wind farm in the world. Onshore construction of the wind farm started in 2015.
Construction of Walney Extension was co-ordinated from Ørsted’s West Coast Hub, at the Port of Barrow, which will now become home to the project’s operations and maintenance team. The West Coast Hub also services three further Ørsted offshore wind farms – Barrow, Walney and West of Duddon Sands.
The completion of Walney Extension brings Ørsted’s total capacity operating out of Barrow to 1.5 GW.
Ørsted owns a 50 per cent stake in Walney Extension, while partners PKA and PFA each owning 25 per cent.
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