Wind Energy

Wind energy Stakraft signs £160m offshore wind power deal

Green energy produced off the Furness coast using Danish technology will be sold to Norway and then sold back to the UK – without ever leaving the country. Electricity produced by the 102 wind turbines Walney Offshore Wind farm is to be sold to Norwegian energy giant Statkraft.

The firm has just signed an agreement with the wind farm’s Danish owners, Dong, worth around £160m. The two-year agreement will apply to four of Dong’s UK wind power farms, including half of the 367.2 MW produced by the Walney wind farm.

The development, 15km off the coast of Walney, is connected to the grid via a 45 km cable which is buried under the sea and stretches to Heysham. But the homegrown electricity will not leave Britain’s shores.

The power will then be re-sold by Statkraft to British-based energy companies through the National Grid. The contract is based on a variable spot price and started at the beginning of April.

Asbjørn Grundt, executive vice-president, market operations and IT at Stakraft, said: “We are delighted to have concluded this deal with Dong and look forward to building a long and mutually-profitable relationship between our two companies.”

Dong owns 51 per cent of the Walney wind farm, with Scottish and Southern Energy and a Danish and Dutch investment consortium as junior partners.

The first 51 wind turbines became operational in March and once fully completed, the wind farm will be capable of producing enough energy to power 330,000 homes.

Niels Bergh-Hansen, executive vice president of Dong, said: “The UK has a very ambitious plan for expanding the production of renewable energy and a target of making green energy and reliability of supply go hand in hand, and we are pleased to be able to contribute to the expansion of renewable energy.”

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