UK Gives Go Signal for Massive Offshore Wind Farm

The United Kingdom’s renewable energy industry is getting a huge boost, as the government just gave the go signal on the second phase of the Hornsea offshore wind farm to add 1,800 megawatts of wind power capacity, Inhabitat reported. 

The Hornsea Project Two plans which have been steadily gaining support for the past several years won the green light this week from UK ministries, priming the country to house two of the world’s largest offshore wind farms. If the wind farm is erected to full capacity, it is expected to generate enough clean energy to power 1.8 million homes across the United Kingdom.

The Hornsea Project Two plans which have been steadily gaining support for the past several years won the green light this week from UK ministries, priming the country to house two of the world’s largest offshore wind farms. If the wind farm is erected to full capacity, it is expected to generate enough clean energy to power 1.8 million homes across the United Kingdom.

Approval for the Hornsea project marks a significant milestone in UK regulatory history, on the eve of a decision to delay the plans for a new Hinkley nuclear power plant. British leaders have expressed their determination in the future of clean energy and backed up sentiment with $950 million in funds allocated for renewable energy projects. The Hornsea project will tap into those funds, bringing the nation a giant leap closer to its goal of supplying 10% of the United Kingdom’s total electricity from wind power by 2020.

Denmark’s state-backed utility, DONG Energy is behind the ambitious offshore wind farm project. Plans for Hornsea Project Two include another off-shore site 55 miles off the coast of Grimsby and the wind farm will contain as many as 300 turbines. Taxpayers will not shell out any more than the $950 million already allocated even if the cost of the Hornsea project hovers around $7.8 billion.

Advocates of renewable energy have shown the case for Hornsea and other off-shore wind farms similar to it by leaning on these figures. For the cost of one Hinkley nuclear power plant, the United Kingdom could build six Hornsea-scale wind farms and produce more energy. That fact alone may be enough to convince the British government to continue investing in clean, renewable energy while putting more destructive and expensive forms of energy generation on the back burner.

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Featured Image Credit: Inhabitat