Eneco has identified an area off the Dorset and Hampshire coasts, and to the west of the Isle of Wight for the project, which the company believes will provide enough power for between 615,000 and 820,000 homes.
In January 2010, The Crown Estate awarded Eneco a 279 square mile area of the seabed to explore the most suitable place to locate the wind park.
Over the past year, Eneco has been appraising the area and has concluded that a project of between 900MW and 1,200MW of capacity could be located in the northern part of the awarded area, a site that covers 76 square miles.
At the closest point, the wind park will be approximately 8.2 miles (13.2km) away from Peveril Point in Swanage. The northern boundary of the site is located 10.2 miles (16.4km) from Bournemouth and 8.4 miles (13.5km) south west of The Needles and the Isle of Wight coast.
Chris Sherrington, director of the project, said: ‘After comprehensively evaluating key aspects of the project in relation to wider stakeholder interests, we have chosen the most suitable location for the wind park. This is an important milestone in the lifetime of the development of this project and enables us to look to the future and consider wider impacts such as the positive economic benefits our project could bring to the area.’
| Item | |
Potential installed capacity
| Between 900MW–1,200MW, which is enough renewable power for between approximately 615,000 and 820,000 homes. |
Estimated number of turbines
| 900MW using a 6MW turbine would be 150 turbines 1,200MW using 5MW turbine would be 240 turbines |
| Project area | Approximately 76 square miles or 198km2
|
| Water depth (average) | Approximately 38m |
| Distance to shore (from nearest point) | 8.2 miles or 13.2km |
Key dates
| Development Consent Application submitted to the IPC — 2013 Construction commences — 2016 Wind park becomes fully operational — 2019 |
Name of wind park
| Public to decide on the name of the wind park during February/March 2011 |
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