The world’s largest offshore wind farm is launched

6 September 2018

The world's largest operational offshore wind farm to-date is located 19km off the coast of Walney island in the Irish Sea. Spanning 145 square kilometres, the farm is of an equivalent size to approximately 20,000 football pitches and has a capacity of 659MW. Replacing the previous record holder, the London Array which opened in 2013, Walney Extension produces slightly more power (659MW compared to London Array's 630MW), but with almost half the amount the amount of turbines - demonstrating the technological advances made over the last five years.

Owned by the Danish green energy company Ørsted (50%) its partners, the Danish pension funds PKA (25%) and PFA (25%), the Walney Extension is also notable for using wind turbines from two different manufacturers. MHI Vestas has supplied 47 8MW wind turbines and Siemens Gamesa has supplied the remaining 40 7MW wind turbines. The project becomes Ørsted’s 11^th operational offshore wind farm in the UK and ongoing operations and maintenance activities will support more than 250 direct jobs in the region. Currently, the UK is the leading market for offshore wind farms, where they supply approximately one-tenth of all electricity needs.

Matthew Wright, Ørsted UK's Managing Director said: “The UK is the global leader in offshore wind and Walney Extension showcases the industry’s incredible success story. The project, completed on time and within budget, also marks another important step towards Ørsted’s vision of a world that runs entirely on green energy. The North-West region plays an important role in our UK offshore wind operations and our aim is to make a lasting and positive impact here. We want to ensure that the local community becomes an integral part of the renewable energy revolution that’s happening along its coastline.”

Peter Damgaard Jensen, CEO of the Danish pension fund said: “We’re proud to participate in the opening of the world’s largest offshore wind farm to date, and to supply over half a million UK homes with green power. Walney Extension is our sixth investment in wind farms since 2011, and is yet another important contribution to PKA’s ambitious climate strategy in which we continuously work to create good returns to our members while at the same time making a positive difference for the climate.”

Henrik Nøhr Poulsen, Executive Director and responsible for Equities and Alternative Investments at PFA said: “At PFA, we’re very happy to be a part of this great project, together with Ørsted and PKA, which is a milestone in the market of renewable energy and an important contribution towards the green transition. It’s an historic event and the largest renewable investment ever made by PFA. The Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm investment represents a considerable extension of our portfolio of alternative investments and fits perfectly into our strategic focus on providing our customers with reliable and stable long-term returns.”

While the Walney Extension can bear the title of world's largest offshore wind farm for now, it can't expect to do so indefinitely. Ørsted's planned Hornsea Project One and Project Two installations near Yorkshire that are expected to be in operation by 2022 at the latest will have a capacity that is more than twofold of Walney's.

-Source: Ørsted

-Photo credit: Ørsted