Dong Energy has opened its new British offshore wind farm, Gunfleet Sands, which is expected to supply green power corresponding to the annual power consumption of some 125,000 British households. The wind farm is located in the Thames Estuary off the Essex coast.

The total capacity of the offshore wind farm is 172MW. Gunfleet Sands 1 consists of 30 turbines each of 3.6MW and Gunfleet Sands 2 consists of 18 turbines each with a capacity of 3.6MW. The rotor diameter of the turbines is 107m, with a maximum height of 129m from blade tip to sea level. The total area of the phase 1 development is 10km2 and 7.5km2 for phase 2.

The project makes a considerable contribution to the domestic UK target of reducing CO2 emissions by 20% below 1990 levels by 2010.

Dong Energy is involved in building the three new offshore wind farms, London Array (630MW), which is due to be commissioned in 2013, and Walney (367MW) and Lincs (270MW), which are scheduled for completion by next year.