Britain Gets Largest Offshore Wind Farm

london_array.jpgWhat, at this point in time, will be the largest offshore wind farm is going to be built in Britain after the government green-lit the project. Expected to be done by 2012, London Array is slated to produce one gigawatt of electricity to be fed to the grid. Back in 2007, the British government announced a plan to erect enough wind farms by 2020 to generate 25 gigawatts of energy. London Array serves as the flagship project of this goal according to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The companies involved in its construction - E.ON, Dong and Masdar - will build the farm 12 miles off of the coasts of Kent and Essex on a total seabed area of 90 square miles. Construction will be divided into two phases, the first one comprised of 175 turbines standing 330 feet above sea level, enough to generate 630 megawatts. Once completed, the farm can produce energy that can power 750,000 homes and prevent emission of roughly 1.9 million tons of carbon dioxide. Earlier this year, the London Array project was put into jeopardy when Shell pulled out. It was only through the $800 million aid package provided by the government that the initiative will push through.

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