The Supervisory Board of DONG Energy has decided to construct and operate the two UK offshore wind farms, Walney Island and Gunfleet Sands II.

Walney Island will have a capacity of 151 MW distributed on 42 wind turbines and is scheduled to go into production in 2010. Gunfleet Sands II will have a capacity of 64 MW distributed on 18 wind turbines and is scheduled to go into production in 2010. The expected investment is DKK 3.8 billion in Walney Island and DKK 1.4 billion in Gunfleet Sands II.

“The decision to build the two new offshore wind farms is a key component in DONG Energy’s strategy to increase the proportion of electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Apart from our existing off shore wind farms we are already developing two other offshore wind farms, Gunfleet Sands I and Horns Rev II, that are scheduled for completion in 2009. With the completion of four new offshore wind farms in 2010 we will have increased our production capacity within wind- and water energy by over 60 % compared to today,” says DONG Energy CEO Anders Eldrup.

Walney Island will be placed in the Irish Sea 15 km off the West coast of England and is the first stage of a project, where DONG Energy has acquired the right to develop, build and operate an offshore wind farm with a capacity of up to 450 MW on the site. The project received its final approval from the UK authorities in November 2007.

Gunfleet Sands II will be placed in the Thames Estuary off the East coast of England as a direct extension of DONG Energy's already projected 108 MW offshore windfarm Gunfleet Sands I, which is scheduled for completion in 2009.

In addition to Walney Island and the two Gunfleet Sands projects, DONG Energy has two other offshore wind farms in the UK, Barrow and Burbo Bank, which are both in operation.

Tags: DONG Energy