Wind farm extension to be built off the Crosby coast
Liverpool Echo|Helen Davies|December 30, 2014
Burbo Bank project will consist of 32 extra turbines
A wind farm extension will be built off the coast of Merseyside.
Denmark-based Dong Energy has decided to construct the offshore Burbo Bank Extension wind farm in Liverpool Bay.
The wind farm will see an extra 32 turbines added to the 25 existing turbines at Burbo Bank.
The project, expected to start producing energy in 2017, was granted permission earlier this year by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
Dong Energy have now announced they definitely plan to go ahead with the scheme.
Samuel Leupold, executive vice president for Dong Energy, said: “I am very pleased that with this final investment decision we can now begin the construction of Burbo Bank Extension …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]Burbo Bank project will consist of 32 extra turbines
A wind farm extension will be built off the coast of Merseyside.
Denmark-based Dong Energy has decided to construct the offshore Burbo Bank Extension wind farm in Liverpool Bay.
The wind farm will see an extra 32 turbines added to the 25 existing turbines at Burbo Bank.
The project, expected to start producing energy in 2017, was granted permission earlier this year by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
Dong Energy have now announced they definitely plan to go ahead with the scheme.
Samuel Leupold, executive vice president for Dong Energy, said: “I am very pleased that with this final investment decision we can now begin the construction of Burbo Bank Extension which will supply green power to approximately 180,000 UK households.
“The construction and operation of this wind farm will support green growth and employment in the UK.”
Burbo Bank Extension is the first of three projects for which Dong Energy was awarded an investment contract by the Government in April this year.
It means the company will receive a fixed price per MWh of electricity produced for the wind farm extension’s first 15 years of operation. After this Dong Energy will receive the market price.
Mr Leupold added: “The decision to construct Burbo Bank Extension using an 8MW wind turbine is another significant step towards reducing cost of electricity on future projects.”
The extension will be located west of the operational Burbo Bank offshore wind farm, around 8.5km from Crosby beach.
It is around 7km north of the North Wirral coast and 12.2 km from the Point of Ayr on the Welsh coast.
Project bosses have previously estimated that 135 full time jobs and 55 part time jobs could be created in local supply chain during the construction period of the wind farm extension. There are 75 potential full time jobs for the expected 25 year lifetime of the scheme.
Onshore works to place underground cables in North Wales are due to take place in 2015 and early 2016, while offshore works are expected to commence in 2016 and proceed until early 2017.