The Biggest Wind Farms in Europe: Renewable Energy Powerhouse
The Walney Extension offshore wind farm is the biggest operational offshore wind farm in the world. Image courtesy of Ørsted.
Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm – 659MW
The 659MW Walney Extension offshore wind farm is the world’s biggest operational offshore wind farm to date. It is located in the Irish Sea, approximately 19km away from Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, UK.
Developed in two phases, the wind farm is owned by Orsted (50%) and Danish pension funds PFA (25%) and PKA (25%). It features 40 MHI-Vestas 8.25MW turbines and 47 Siemens Gamesa 7MW turbines.
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By GlobalDataThe Walney Extension generated first power in September 2017 and was fully commissioned in September 2018. The wind farm is designed to operate for 25 years and supplies enough electricity to power 590,000 UK homes.
London Array Offshore Wind Farm – 630MW
The London Array offshore wind farm is located in the outer Thames Estuary, UK. The London Array consortium between Shell WindEnergy, E.ON, and DONG Energy is the developer of the project.
The first turbine at London Array offshore wind farm was installed in January 2012 while first power was generated in October 2012. The facility was fully commissioned in December 2012.
It features 175 Siemens SWT-3.6 turbines, which generate sufficient green energy needed for half a million UK homes and offsets more than 925,000t of CO2 emissions a year.
Fantanele-Cogealac Wind Park – 600MW
The Fantanele-Cogealac wind park is situated in Constanta County, Romania, approximately 17km away from the shore of the Black Sea. Owned by the CEZ Group, the wind farm has an installed capacity of 600MW.
It features 240 GE 2.5 XL wind turbines, each with a rated power output of 2.5MW. The first turbine of the Fantanele-Cogealac wind park was connected to the grid in July 2010 while the wind farm was fully commissioned in November 2012.
The project is accountable for approximately 10% of the Romanian renewable energy production. It meets the electricity requirements of more than one million Romanian homes a year.
Gemini Offshore Wind Park – 600MW
The 600MW Gemini offshore wind farm is located in the Dutch waters of the North Sea, approximately 85km north of Groningen coast. It is owned by Northland Power (60%), Siemens (20%), HCV (10%) and Van Oord (10%).
The wind park was built with an investment of €2.8bn ($3.1bn) sourced through capital and equity funding. It is equipped with 150 Siemens SW4.0-130 turbines, which have a rated capacity of 4MW each.
Gemini generates 2.6TWh of energy, which is sufficient to power approximately 785,000 Dutch homes. It is expected to offset 1.25 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.
Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm – 588MW
The Beatrice wind farm is built in the Scottish waters of the North Sea. Located approximately 13km from the Caithness coast, it is the biggest offshore wind farm in Scotland.
The wind farm was jointly developed by SSE (40%), Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (35%), and Red Rock Power (25%). First power from the Beatrice wind farm was achieved in July 2018.
The final turbine was installed in May 2019 while the wind farm became fully operational two months later. Beatrice currently generates enough green electricity to power 450,000 Scottish households a year through its estimated life of 25 years.
Gode Wind 1 and 2 – 582MW
Gode Wind 1 and 2 are two offshore wind parks with a combined capacity of 582MW. The project is located approximately 45km off the coast of the German mainland.
Construction on the wind farms was started in April 2015 while the last wind turbine was installed in May 2016. The wind farms were officially inaugurated in June 2017. Gode Wind 1 is owned by Ørsted (50%) and Global Infrastructure Partners (50%) while four Danish pension funds (50%) and Ørsted (50%) own Gode Wind 2.
Gode Wind 1 and 2 include a total of 97 Siemens SWT-6.0-154 turbines, which supply green power to 600,000 German households.
Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm – 576MW
Gwynt y Môr is built in the Irish Sea, approximately 14km off from the coast of North Wales. It is owned by RWE Innogy, Stadtwerke München, Siemens, and UK Green Investment bank.
Developed with a €2bn ($2.43bn) investment, the wind farm generated its first power in September 2013 and became fully operational in mid-2015. It occupies an area of approximately 80km².
The wind farm features 160 Siemens SWT-3.6-107 wind turbines with a rated power output of 3.6MW each. It produces enough clean electricity to power approximately 400,000 homes while offsetting 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.
Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm – 573MW
The Race Bank wind farm is situated off the coast of North Norfolk in the UK. It features 91 Siemens Gamesa 6MW wind turbines based on monopile foundations in water depths ranging between 6m and 26m.
Officially inaugurated in June 2018, the wind farm has an estimated operational life of 25 years. Race Bank is owned by Ørsted (50%), Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 (25%), Sumitomo Corporation (12.5%), and other investors (12.5%).
It produces enough power for more than half a million UK households and is expected to offset more than 830,000t of CO2 emissions a year.
Whitelee Windfarm – 539MW
Located on Eaglesham Moor in Scotland, Whitelee is the biggest onshore wind farm in the UK. Iberdrola subsidiary ScottishPower Renewables developed and owns the facility.
The wind farm generated its first power in January 2008. It is installed with 215 turbines supplied by Siemens and Alstom.
The power generated by the Whitelee wind farm is enough to meet the needs of approximately 300,000 Scottish homes a year.
Clyde Wind Farm – 522MW
The Clyde wind farm was jointly developed by SSE, Greencoat UK Wind, and GLIL Corporate Holdings. The onshore facility is situated in the Southern Uplands in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.
The wind farm was built in two stages, with the first and second phases, including 152 Siemens SWT-2.3-93 and 54 Siemens SWT-3.2-101 wind turbines, respectively. It is expected to have an operational life of 25 years.
Clyde’s 206 wind turbines generate more than 1,000GWh of renewable energy a year, which is enough to power more than 290,000 households in Scotland.
