Most Massive Offshore Wind Farm Is Now Producing Power

The United Kingdom’s waters are home to the world’s largest offshore wind farm, and on its first day of production, it provided 50% of Britain’s electricity.

Many of Hornsea 2’s 165 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines are still to be installed, and will each have a peak capacity of 8MW, for a total capacity of 1,320 MW – the equivalent of 1.3 million typical UK homes. Hornsea’s third stage will add 2,400 MW, and its construction will soon start.

Offshore wind power is experiencing exponential growth worldwide: Jiangsu Qidong, China’s own largest offshore wind farm, has a total capacity of 802MW. Denmark and South Korea are working hand in hand to develop giant wind farms off Iceland. Prices are falling for offshore wind power, as turbines get larger than on land. Moreover, winds are steadier offshore than onshore, thus reducing irregularities, the last major disadvantage wind has when compared with fossil fuels.