Dong Energy wins approval for Walney offshore wind farm extension

Dong Energy has secured development consent from the UK Government to expand the Walney offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea.

The Walney Extension offshore wind farm will be located north west of Walney I and II wind farms, 19km west of the Cumbrian coast.

The approval allows Dong Energy to install up to 207 turbines with a generating capacity of 750MW.

However, the company is going ahead with its plans based on a 660MW capacity.

Dong Energy plans to install 6MW to 8MW turbines for the wind farm extension, which will cover an area of about 149km².

The extension features inter array cables, offshore and onshore export cables within an export cable corridor and offshore and onshore substations which will link the project to the National Grid.

Construction on the wind farm will start in the second quarter of 2017.

Dong Energy UK Wind Power vice president Benj Sykes said: "Walney Extension is expected to have generation capacity of up to 660 megawatts, with the potential to power up to half a million homes, and this decision to grant development consent now clears the way for the company to make a final investment decision on the project.

"With consent also granted to the Burbo Bank Extension project recently, this really underlines our commitment to investing in the UK and helping us move towards a low carbon economy."

UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey said: "This project alone is expected to create 230 new jobs during the construction phase and many more opportunities throughout the UK economy.

"Driving investment in energy has made us the top country in the world for investing in offshore wind."