An energy company owned and operated by the Swedish government plans to build one of the world’s biggest wind farms in Britain. Vattenfall, one of Sweden’s publicly owned power services, will invest £460 million into two wind farms in the UK, with the projects boasting enough electrical power to supply over 166,000 homes.
The first wind farm will be built in Wales at a cost of over £400 million. With a total of 76 wind turbines, the Pen y Cymoedd plant will be the largest in the UK. A second plant will follow in Aberdeenshire, with 18 turbines powering the national grid at a cost of over £40 million.
The two power stations are expected to create thousands of jobs for the UK in one of the most desirable energy sectors. The projects are expected to be completed in late 2016 and early 2015, with both wind farms expected to start contributing power to the national grid shortly after completion.
Energy secretary Ed Davey commented on the plans, remarking that the technology used in the farms has been ‘a major success story for the UK.’ He also noted that the wind farms will bring economic benefits to the nation and have the potential to lead to thousands of skilled jobs over the next decades.
While the Swedish investment has dominated clean energy news recently, plans to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm in the UK have pressed ahead and will soon be in the headlines. The £3.6 billion investment will see almost 300 turbines installed off the coast of Lincolnshire, providing power to over 820,000 UK homes.
Investments in clean energy have been a major aspect of the coalition government’s long-term economic growth scheme. The companies involved in the project recently cleared up confusion regarding contractors, noting that all of the contract work will be completed by UK companies.
