Massive offshore wind farm opens off the English coast

One of the world’s largest offshore wind farms is officially being opened today off the east coast of England.

The Race Bank wind farm, developed by Danish energy company Ørsted, has a maximum capacity of 573 megawatts, enough to power around 500,000 homes in the UK.

The major clean energy project is located 17 miles off the Norfolk coast, with 91 huge turbines covering an area equivalent to over 10,000 football pitches.

The official opening of the wind farm means it is now the fifth largest in the world, although various others under construction in UK waters will soon surpass it.

Ørsted UK’s Managing Director, Matthew Wright, said: “Powering over half a million homes every year, Race Bank is another positive step towards delivering the UK’s decarbonised energy system of the future.”

Ørsted was an early investor in offshore wind and has a strong presence in the European market. It has a stake in 10 projects around the UK coastline, often in post-industrial areas which have benefitted from the inward investment and job creation.

A new £300m offshore wind factory was opened in Hull 18 months ago by Siemens, which employs 1,000 people in the local area. Race Bank is the first wind farm to use blades made at the site.

“Race Bank is a fantastic infrastructure project and underlines Ørsted’s contribution to the UK’s energy transition. It’s also another clear signal of our firm commitment to Grimsby and the Humber, and the UK supply chain for offshore wind,” Wright added.

In addition to Race Bank, Ørsted is also building out the much larger Hornsea One and Two wind farms in nearby Yorkshire, which will have a combined capacity of 3,000 megawatts. Once complete, either wind farm will become the largest in the world.

Photo Credit: Ørsted