New giant off-shore wind turbines set to be tested (From Clacton and Frinton Gazette)

New giant off-shore wind turbines set to be tested

9:00am Sunday 10th February 2013 in News

CLACTON’S new offshore wind turbines are expected to start generating electricity in the spring.

Danish power giant Dong Energy finished work on the two Siemens six megawatt turbines last week.

The turbines have been added to the 48 turbines at the Gunfleet Sands windfarm, four miles off Clacton.

Spokesman Benj Sykes said: “The Gunfleet Sands demonstration project is a big step in reducing the cost of energy in offshore wind.

“These are the first two turbines of their kind to be installed offshore in the world and we are very excited to have them tested at our Gunfleet Sands demonstration site.”

The new models are almost twice as powerful as standard turbines used offshore today. The existing turbines generate 3.6 megawatts of power each.
 

The prototypes will pave the way for another 300 next-generation turbines around the UK. Dong said the turbines will start generating electricity in the spring.
 

Edward Davey, secretary of state for energy and climate change, welcomed the news.

“It is a vote of confidence in the UK energy market that an international company such as Dong Energy is investing and innovating here,” he said.

“There is huge potential for offshore wind developments to attract major investment and create a large number of skilled jobs in the UK."