The Engineer Q&A: The London Array

In July 2013 the UK witnessed the official opening of the London Array, an offshore windfarm that is currently the largest of its kind in the world.

The 100km² installation, located in the outer Thames Estuary, features 175 Siemens 3.6MW turbines with a combined generating capacity of 630MW, which is expected to produce enough electricity to power over half a million UK homes each year.

Dong Energy, which holds a 50 per cent share in the facility, believes the London Array represents a ‘real milestone on the path to cutting the cost of offshore wind’.

To others, it represents an expensive and unreliable folly and that the nation’s energy needs would be better served by nuclear or carbon-based fuels.

We’ve asked the team behind the London Array, plus as well as a number of other wind energy industry experts, to answer your questions on the engineering challenges behind the project, as well as the case for going ahead with it.