Scottish Power Commits $3.5 Billion for U.K. Offshore Wind Farm

[jpak]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-24/scottish-power-commits-3-5-billion-for-u-k-offshore-wind-farm

Scottish Power Ltd. decided to move forward with a 2.5 billion-pound ($3.5 billion) investment to build one of the U.K.’s biggest offshore wind farms in the North Sea.

Construction of the East Anglia One offshore field will begin next year, the Glasgow-based subsidiary of Iberdrola SA said in an e-mail. The wind farm, located about 45 kilometers (28 miles) off the U.K.’s east coast, will have 102 turbines with capacity of 714 megawatts -- more than any other currently operating offshore wind farm.

It’s the second major offshore wind project to get the green light for development this month. Dong Energy announced Feb. 3 that it too would move ahead with its 1.2-gigawatt Hornsea Project One, which is slated to become the world’s biggest offshore wind farm when it’s completed in 2020 and could cost as much as $5.7 billion to build, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“ScottishPower won a contract for difference for this project in March last year and has a year to show that it can close a certain percentage of financing to be able to move forward,” said Keegan Kruger, wind analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “This milestone is coming up next month, reaching it will enable the developer to achieve the date of commercial operations they agreed in the contract and make use of the subsidy.”

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