Positive
Project advancing - milestone achieved
High Impact
Major milestone or critical setback
The 300 MW Thanet Offshore Wind Farm was inaugurated on 23 September 2010, taking the title of the world's largest operational offshore wind farm at the time, surpassing Horns Rev 2. The site comprises 100 Vestas V90-3.0 MW turbines located 11 km off the coast of the Thanet district in Kent, England. Vattenfall acquired the rights from Christofferson, Robb & Co (CRC) in November 2008 and led the construction. The inaugural ceremony was held at sea with Vattenfall CEO Oystein Loseth and UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne MP. Total capital cost approximately GBP 780-900 million. The European Investment Bank later provided GBP 175 million of long-term funding (December 2011) to refinance Vattenfall's investment, making Thanet the first commercial-scale offshore wind project to receive EIB funding in the UK. Annual generation supports the equivalent of more than 200,000 UK homes.