DONG Energy has announced that the Walney offshore wind farm – which the company claims is the world's largest offshore wind project – is now fully operational.
The Walney wind farm, sited off the coast of Cumbria in the U.K., has been commissioned, with all 102 turbines now delivering electricity to the U.K. power grid.
The wind farm, which combines the Walney 1 and 2 projects, is a joint venture between DONG Energy (50.1%), SSE (25.1%) and OPW (24.8%). With a total capacity of 367 MW, the project can supply up to 320,000 households with renewable energy and has created around 60 jobs at its new operations center in Barrow-in-Furness, DONG Energy says.
According to the company, Walney 2 was built in the fastest time ever for a large offshore wind project, with all turbines and cables installed in just five months and 13 days.
The project received investment from a pension-fund service provider and an equity fund before it was built. OPW, a consortium of Dutch pension-fund service provider PGGM and the Ampere Equity Fund, took a 24.8% stake in the project in December 2010.
