Post date: Jul 04, 2013 5:57:28 PM
British Prime Minister David Cameron visits Britain's biggest wind farm and says opening of farm is a "good day for Britain".
OUTER THAMES ESTUARY, OFF COASTS OF KENT AND SUSSEX, ENGLAND, UK (JULY 4, 2012) (ITN) - The world's largest offshore wind farm, which can generate enough electricity for half a million homes, was officially opened off Britain's south-east coast on Thursday (July 4).
British Prime Minister David Cameron opened the 630-megawatt London Array project, which was developed by E.ON, DONG Energy and Abu Dhabi's Masdar and produced its first electricity from all its turbines in April.After his visit, Cameron praised the facility's scale.
"Let's be clear, this is the biggest off-shore wind farm anywhere in the world and what it shows is Britain is a great country to come and invest in and it's meant jobs for local people and green, clean energy for half a million homes in our country. It's part of what we need to have -- secure, reliable supplies of electricity -- and to get investments and jobs for our people, so it's a good day for Britain."
The 1.5 billion pound ($2.3 billion) wind farm, built 20 kilometres offshore, contains 175 turbines and solidifies Britain's position at the top of the world's offshore wind league table.
Britain is banking on offshore wind technology to help it reach legally-binding targets to cut carbon emissions. It is aiming to develop 18 gigawatts (GW) of power from wind by 2020.
With 3.3 GW currently in place, Britain is the world's top offshore wind power producer and another 15 GW are in the pipeline, the country's green energy association, RenewableUK, said.