15 Offshore Wind Farms You Need to Know About for Renewable Energy
Offshore wind farms are becoming increasingly popular as a source of renewable energy. They harness the power of the wind to generate electricity, which is then transmitted back to shore and distributed to homes and businesses.
Here are 15 offshore wind farms that you should know about:
1. Hornsea One: Located off the coast of Yorkshire in England, this is currently the world’s largest offshore wind farm with a capacity of 1.2 GW.
2. Burbo Bank: Situated in Liverpool Bay in the UK, this wind farm has been operational since 2007 and has a capacity of 90 MW.
3. Block Island Wind Farm: This is America’s first offshore wind farm, located off the coast of Rhode Island with a capacity of 30 MW.
4. Sheringham Shoal: A joint venture between Equinor and Statkraft, this UK-based wind farm has been operational since 2012 with a capacity of 316 MW.
5. Gemini Wind Farm: Located off the coast of the Netherlands, this is one Europe’s largest offshore wind farms with a capacity of 600 MW.
6. Walney Extension: The second-largest offshore wind farm in the world at present, it generates up to 659 MW from its location off Cumbria in England’s northwest region.
7. Borkum Riffgrund I & II: Two separate German projects run by Orsted have generated up to almost nine hundred megawatts together since opening within two years apart from each other; they both utilize Siemens turbines measuring six megawatts each
8. Race Bank Wind Farm – The project was finished construction late last year (2018) completed by Dong Energy near Norfolk on Britain’s east coast with total installed generating power reaching over half gigawatt hours per annum
9.WindFloat Atlantic- Opened early last year (2019), Spain’s biggest utility company Endesa partnered with Portuguese renewable energy firm EDP Renewables and French oil major Total to construct the floating platform. The wind farm comprises three 8.4-megawatt MHI Vestas turbines, anchored with chains on the seabed.
10. Arkona- The joint venture between energy companies Equinor and E.ON is based off Germany’s Baltic coast near Rügen Island
11. Formosa 1- This Taiwanese project was established in two phases: phase one had a capacity of eight megawatts (MW) while phase two has a combined total of over 120 MW which makes it Taiwan’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm.
12. Hywind Scotland: Developed by Norwegian company Statoil, this project uses floating turbines to harness the power of the wind off Scotland’s east coast.
13. Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm – Located in Scottish waters around 15 kilometers south-east of Aberdeen, it is being developed by Spanish renewables giant Cobra Group and consists of six turbine units each with an output capacity of up to nine megawatts (MW), making for a total generating capacity exceeding fifty-four MW.
14.Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm – Being developed by Northland Power aims to deliver nearly one gigawatt (GW) when completed across its two phases; set for full operation in late 2025 or early 2026
15.Shimizu Corporation Floating Offshore Wind Farm Project – A Japanese construction company Shimizu Corporation has been developing their own offshore wind farm technology called “Cyclone Generator” since 2009; looking forward to establishing at least one large-scale test facility as soon as possible in Japan.
Offshore wind farms are becoming increasingly important sources for renewable energy globally, helping reduce carbon emissions which will go towards meeting net-zero targets and mitigating climate change impact on our planet Earth.