Permission to build the World’s largest offshore wind farm has been given. The wind farm will sit off the coast of Britain in the Thames Estuary and will feature 341 wind turbines. When the project is complete, the turbines will generate up to one gigawatt of electricity.

E.ON, one of three energy companies involved in the project, has said that it is hoped that the wind farm will be up and running by 2012, in time for the Olympics.

Each wind turbine will sit 330 feet above sea level however they will be built so far away from land that they should not be visible from the coast. Each turbine will generate between 3 and 7 MW energy. The turbines will be able to operate at a minimum wind speed of 7mph and a maximum wind speed of 56mph (otherwise known as a Force 9 gale). The project is expected to cost around £3 billion and will generate power around a third of the time.

The wind turbines are to be made from steel with three glass fibre blades per turbine. Foundations will reach around 35 metres below the seabed. Each blade is 52 metres long with a swept area of 9,000 metres squared and a rotor speed of between 5 and 13 rpm.

EU targets state that Britain must generate 40 percent of it’s electricity needs from renewable sources within 11 years with most of this target expected to come from wind turbines. Despite this, there are still question marks over whether wind farm projects are really a viable energy generation solution for the UK.

Read our related article ‘Wind Turbines: Are they really a viable solution?’ for more information on the concerns over UK wind farms.

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