ScottishPower Renewables submits plans for East Anglian Offshore Windfarm

ScottishPower Renewables has officially submitted plans for East Anglia THREE, a new 1,200 megawatt (MW) windfarm to be located off the coast of Suffolk, UK.

The East Anglia THREE development will require up to 172 wind turbines, and covers an area of 305 km2 in the southern North Sea. Once completed, the wind farm could power the annual electricity demands of more than 850,000 homes.

ScottishPower Renewables is already developing the East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm, which is a £2 billion project that will see up to 102 turbines installed, with a capacity of up to 714 MW.

Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables, said:

"We were very pleased to hear Amber Rudd’s commitment today to support the continued growth of offshore wind power. The more offshore wind capacity we have in the UK, the more secure our energy supplies will be. It already powers 3.5 million homes per year, and with wind around our coasts in plentiful supply, it has the potential to play an even more significant role."

"Our East Anglia ONE project was successful in the last government auction with a price of £119/MWh, which will make it the best value offshore windfarm ever developed in the UK.  But we want to see costs come down even further. Our entire industry wants to get to a place where subsidy is not required, and significant progress is being made to deliver this in the near future."

"The offshore wind industry in the UK now benefits from more powerful and more efficient turbines. We have better vessels, more experience of working offshore, a healthier supply chain, a growing engineering skills base, increased capability to export our products and expertise around the globe, as well as ever increasing investment in UK infrastructure.  All of these factors mean that costs are reducing quickly, and large projects are achievable."