E.ON’s humber gateway wind farm gets approval from government

Wednesday, Feb 09, 2011

E.ON has today (9 FEB) announced that Department for Energy and Climate and Change (DECC) has granted it planning approval to build the 230MW Humber Gateway Offshore wind farm.

The wind farm, to be located 8km off the Holderness Coast in the East Riding of Yorkshire, will have the capacity to provide up to 150,000 homes[i] with clean, renewable energy from up to 77 turbines.

Michael Lewis, Managing Director for E.ON’s European renewables business, said: “This is really exciting news for us as we see offshore wind as an important part in the future energy mix of the UK.

“It’s essential that we continue to invest in renewable technologies and this is further recognition of our expertise in the sector generally and in offshore wind in particular.”

E.ON was granted onshore planning consent for a new substation on industrial land near Salt End earlier this year. The substation will connect the Humber Gateway wind farm to the national grid via 30km of underground cable.

Once operational, Humber Gateway will be E.ON’s fifth offshore wind farm in the UK. The company already owns and operates the UK’s first offshore wind farm off the cost of  Blyth in Northumberland, Scroby Sands off the coast of Great Yarmouth, and one of the UK’s largest offshore wind farms – Robin Rigg – in the Solway Firth. E.ON is also a partner in the London Array, which will be the world's largest offshore wind farm when built.

Almost half (40%) of all offshore wind turbines in Europe were developed by E.ON last year.

Source: E.ON