Eneco Wind UK Ltd. and EDF Energy have formed a 50-50 joint venture to develop the Navitus Bay Offshore Wind Project, which is part of The Crown Estate Round 3 Offshore Wind Programme.
The Crown Estate, owner of the seabed and a partner in the project, awarded the area (known as Zone 7), which is located west of the Isle of Wight, to Eneco in 2009. This followed a tendering process designed to allow around 32 GW of offshore wind power generation to be developed in U.K. waters by 2020.
The proposed development of Navitus Bay could deliver between 900 MW and 1.2 GW of capacity in the northern part of the awarded area – a site that covers 76 square miles. According to the companies, this is enough energy to power between 615,000 and 820,000 homes.
Eneco and EDF Energy will now work together to carry out an onshore and offshore consultation program with the local community. The companies plan to submit a development consent order to the Infrastructure Planning Commission at the end of 2013.
