The world’s largest offshore wind power plant, owned, developed and built by a consortium consisting of Abu Dhabi-based Masdar, Dong Energy and E.ON, was officially opened off Britain's south-east coast on Thursday.

London Array, 1.5 billion pound ($2.3 billion) wind power plant, has a total capacity of 630 megawatts (MW) and will generate enough power to supply 500,000 British households with clean electricity. London Array will reduce annual CO2 emissions by approximately 900,000 tons, which equals the emissions of 300,000 passenger cars.

Siemens supplied the 175 wind turbines and the grid connection for London Array. Together with Dong Energy, Siemens will also be responsible for the service of the wind turbines through a long-term agreement.

“London Array is the world’s largest offshore wind power plant and marks a milestone in the development of offshore wind power. This project underscores the leading position of Siemens in this attractive growth market”, said Peter Löscher, President and CEO of Siemens AG on the occasion of the opening ceremony in Margate, Great Britain.

The London Array offshore wind farm is located in the Thames estuary, approximately 20 kilometers off the Kent and Essex coast.

Siemens supplied and installed the wind turbines, each with a rotor diameter of 120 meters and a rating of 3.6 MW. In addition, the company supplied the grid connection with one onshore and two offshore substations in the North Sea.

The electricity generated by the wind turbines is bundled at sea and transported via high-voltage submarine cables to the coast. The wind farm will be operated and maintained from a purpose-built base at Ramsgate Port.

“Projects of this magnitude contribute to further industrialization of complex production and logistics processes for offshore wind power plants,” said Löscher. – TradeArabia News Service & Reuters