UK opens world's largest offshore wind farm

The United Kingdom has officially opened the London Array, the world's largest offshore wind project. 

Built by a consortium of developers including DONG Energy, utility E.ON, and Masdar, the $2.3 billion project consists of 175 Siemens 3.6-megawatt turbines with a nameplate capacity of 630 megawatts. Each turbine sports three blades with an overall diameter of 117 meters.  The project is located about 20 kilometers off London.

The project is owned by its lead developers.  DONG Energy, Denmark's largest energy company, owns 50%.  E.ON, parent of the world's largest investor-owned electric utility, owns 30%.  Masdar, Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company, has a 20% stake in the project.

The addition of the London Array brings the United Kingdom to about 3.3 gigawatts of installed offshore wind capacity. 

August 16, 2011 - DOE loan guarantee to Maine wind project

A wind energy developer has just received a $102 million loan guarantee to support its project in Maine.  Yesterday the U.S. Department of Energy lent its financial support to Record Hill Wind LLC for its 50.6 megawatt project near Roxbury, Maine.  The project's design includes 22 Siemens turbines and an 8 mile transmission line to interconnect with Central Maine Power's system.  Born out of a partnership between Independence Wind LLC and Wagner Forest Management, the project also scored major financial support from the Yale University endowment fund.

Record Hill Wind's federal loan guarantee through the DOE further solidifies the project's financial footing.  Department of Energy operates several loan guarantee programs; Record Hill's backstop comes courtesy of DOE's Section 1705 program, which is now ramping down.  While the Section 1705 program may be a casualty of the federal budget, DOE's three loan programs have to date offered over $40 billion in support for 42 clean energy projects across the country.