Twice the size of the London Eye, this wind turbine built by American company General Electric will form part of Dogger Bank, the world's largest offshore wind farm.
Records are often mentioned when renewables are discussed. But this one surpasses them all, in terms of scale. The Dogger Bank wind farm, under construction off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea, will be powered by the largest wind turbines ever built: 260 metres tall, with a rotor 220 metres in diameter. To put that into perspective, the London Eye measures 135 metres, and the Eiffel Tower 320 metres. A colossus that will rise within what will be the world's largest offshore wind farm, the largest in the world, and which is expected to be completed by 2023.
It will be built by General Electric, one of the largest American companies, which also has a division dedicated to renewable energy and which has been chosen to supply these three-bladed giants. The Haliade-X wind turbine, which is not only the largest but also the most powerful according to its manufacturers, will be capable of producing 12 MW of renewable energy. "Haliade-X represents a step forward in turbine technology and we look forward to working with GE Renewable Energy to maximise the innovation and the benefits that this supply will bring to the United Kingdom," said project director Bjørn Ivar Bergemo in a joint statement.
Dogger Bank is an ancient landmass that sank at the end of the last ice age and once connected the United Kingdom to Germany and the rest of Europe. As sea levels rose after the last ice age, it gradually became an island, until it was completely submerged between 8,000 and 5,500 years ago. Today it is located between 125 and 290 km off the east coast of Yorkshire and extends across approximately 8,660 square kilometres, with depths ranging from 18 to 63 metres. Perfect for installing an offshore wind farm.
Once completed, the project will have a capacity of 3.6 GW and will be able to provide clean, low-carbon energy to power more than 4.5 million homes per year, equivalent to around 5 per cent of estimated electricity generation in the United Kingdom. A project of enormous scope that will play a fundamental role in the decarbonisation of the energy sector, not only in Britain but also in the other countries that border the North Sea.