It is said to be the first turbine to be installed in the Round 2 of constructing offshore windfarms in the UK as laid out by The Crown Estate in 2003. Gunfleet Sands offshore windfarm will have a capacity of 172 MW distributed on 48 Siemens wind turbines at 3.6 MW each and the park is scheduled to go into production in 2010.

Rob Hastings, Director of The Crown Estate’s Marine Estate, says: “We are now seeing real progress on the construction of UK offshore windfarms. The first turbine at Gunfleet Sands is an important milestone as it marks the construction of the first of the 15 Round 2 sites awarded by The Crown Estate in December 2003. Round 2 has the potential to contribute 7.2 GW of clean electricity to the UK’s energy mix and follows on from the 1.5 GW allocated as part of Round 1.

“As we progress with plans for the allocation of an additional 25 GW of capacity under Round 3, the experiences gained on Round 1 and 2 sites will be invaluable,” he adds.