DONG Energy acquires the project company which holds all rights to construction of the offshore wind farm Gunfleet Sands in England from General Electric.

All environmental approvals for the 100 MW offshore wind farm are in place, and the preparatory works for the construction are expected to commence during 2007. The wind farm will be installed seven kilometres offshore from Clacton-on-Sea in the North Thames Estuary and is expected to be completed by autumn 2009.

Gunfleet Sands is built in continuation of DONG Energy’s other British offshore wind farms, Barrow, which is already in operation, and Burbo Banks, which is under construction and expected to be completed during 2007.

Gert Hemmingsen, Head of UK renewables activities at DONG Energy, said, ”The UK market is very attractive to us. Furthermore, the Gunfleet project fits well into our long-term strategy of a gradual expansion of our renewable energy portfolio”.

Rob Hastings, Director of Marine Estates, said, “The Crown Estate are pleased that we have been able to work with the stakeholders in this project to get it back on track. We are encouraged by DONG Energy's determination to build the windfarm and we look forward to another 100MW of capacity coming online. This will bring the total to 700MW of offshore wind generating capacity either already generating or committed for construction, representing over 1% of the UK's electricity demand and making the UK the world leader in offshore wind energy. While it has taken nearly ten years to get to this point, with the continued support of developers, suppliers and government, we now expect this to triple over the next 5years. Looking even further forward, we are committed to enabling at least 10% of the UK's electricity to come from the resources of the Marine Estate by 2020"