UK grid is now powered by the largest offshore wind farm project in the world.
The initial set of 277 turbines that will provide sufficient power for 6 million homes starts operating
British residential and commercial properties are now being powered by the first turbine that has been finished as part of a proposal to construct the largest offshore windfarm in the world in the North Sea.
Dogger Bank, which is located 70 miles off the east coast of Yorkshire, began generating electricity over the weekend when the initial set of 277 turbines were linked to the grid, according to developers’ confirmation on Monday.
When the project is finished in 2026, it will have been developed by SSE in the UK and Equinor and Vrgrnn in Norway. This will be enough electricity to power 6 million homes.
According to Sunak, the project is essential for producing efficient, sustainable energy that can be used to power British houses from British oceans.
The prime minister’s support comes months after he faced harsh criticism from environmental activists for retreating from net zero objectives as he attempts to turn the energy transition into a major electoral issue.
Last month’s dismal energy auction, which could have resulted in contracts for 5GW of projects—enough to power 8 million homes—also brought criticism upon the administration.
The lack of wind energy investment by Sunak, according to Keir Starmer, who will speak to the Labour party convention in Liverpool on Tuesday, is “a gift to Putin, who has choked the international gas marketplace we are hooked to.”
Over the past year, material, labor, and financial costs have increased significantly for those who create wind farms.
Vattenfall, a Swedish energy provider, announced earlier this year that it will stop development on the massive Norfolk Boreas wind farm because it was not anymore profitable due to escalating prices.
The £9 billion Dogger Bank project, according to Sunak, will “not only strengthen the security of our energy supply but also create jobs, bring down electricity costs, and continue to keep us on course for net zero.”
SSE’s chief executive, Alistair Phillips-Davies, stated: “There has been much discussion about the need to develop domestic energy equipment, but we are acting on a massive scale.”
The 107-meter-long blades on Dogger Bank’s first turbine, according to its designers, can turn once and generate enough energy to run a typical British home for two days.
The largest offshore wind farm in Scotland, Seagreen, was one of the massive wind projects that SSE turned on last year.
The rise in gas and power prices over the two years preceding this one, which has been partially attributed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has brought attention to the domestic energy infrastructure in Britain.
The UK electrical system is expected to be decarbonized by the government’s deadline of 2035 and by Labour’s deadline of 2030. They will have a difficult time meeting those goals in a market where power generated from fossil fuels generation is still the norm.