ScottishPower Renewables has officially submitted plans for East Anglia THREE, a new 1,200MW wind farm to be located off the coast of Suffolk.
The East Anglia THREE development will require up to 172 wind turbines, and covers an area of 305km2 in the southern North Sea. Once completed, the wind farm could power the annual electricity demands of more than 850,000 homes.
Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables , said: “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.”
It is anticipated that East Anglia THREE could support up to 4,800 jobs in the UK during the construction phase, representing more than £400m for the UK economy. Around 2,900 jobs could be supported in the East of England region alone, adding over £248m to the regional economy during construction.
The planning application will be considered by the National Infrastructure team within the Planning Inspectorate. If approved, it is anticipated that onshore construction could begin in 2021, with offshore work starting in 2022 and first power generation achieved in 2023.
ScottishPower Renewables is already developing the East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm, which is a £2 billion project that will see up to 102 turbines installed, with a capacity of up to 714MW.