Dusseldorf, Germany, -based E.ON is to invest about 1.9 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in Rampion offshore wind farm in the UK.
The UK Green Investment Bank has already acquired a 327-million euro stake in the project.
E.ON is to construct, operate and maintain the project being developed in the English Channel, 13 kilometers from the Sussex coast due south of Brighton.
Besides, the company is also to provide energy management services at the wind farm, including delivery of the connection to the national grid by way of marine export cables to shore, approximately 26 kilometers of onshore cables and onshore grid substations. In due course, E.ON plans to divest these offshore transmission assets under a regulated sales process.
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The Rampion project will have the capacity to generate 400 megawatts of electricity. Each year the facility is expected to generate 1,300 gigawatt hours of renewable energy.
That translates to power for 300,000 homes and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by up to 600,000 tons a year.
The wind turbines are being installed in an area where the depth varies from 19 to 40 meters. The facility is composed of 116, 3.45-megawatt wind turbines, associated foundations, an offshore substation and cabling.
E.ON has completed construction of seven offshore wind farms totaling 1.2 gigawatts and has another 507 megawatts of renewable power in the pipeline. Since 2007, the company invested more than 9.5 billion euros in renewable energy and will continue to expand the portfolio, according to a statement.
Ajith Kumar S
editor@greentechlead.com