Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm

Gunfleet Sands 1 & 3
The farm from a passing ship, 30 September 2010
Map
CountryEngland, United Kingdom
LocationNorthern Thames Estuary 7 km (4.3 mi) off Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
Coordinates51°44′22″N 1°10′28″E / 51.73944°N 1.17444°E / 51.73944; 1.17444
StatusOperational
Construction began2008
Commission date2010
Owner(s)Orsted (51%)
Marubeni Corporation / Bank of Japan (remainder)
Wind farm
TypeOffshore
Power generation
Units operational48
Make and modelSiemens Wind Power SWT-3.6-107
Nameplate capacity172MW
Capacity factor~30-35%
External links
Websitewww.dongenergy.com/gunfleetsands/Pages/Index.aspx
CommonsRelated media on Commons
Map
Wind farm layout

Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm is a 172 MW wind farm about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) off the Clacton-on-Sea coast in the Northern Thames Estuary.

The 108 MW Gunfleet Sands 1 wind farm gained planning consent in 2003/4; in 2006 DONG Energy (now Ørsted) acquired the project and submitted an application for a second 64 MW windfarm Gunfleet Sands 2 adjacent to the first, which received consent in 2008. Construction of both mounting Siemens Wind Power SWT-3.6-107 turbines took place between 2008 and 2010.

In 2010 planning began on a demonstration project Gunfleet Sands 3, used to test Siemens' 6 MW wind turbine model; two such turbines were installed in 2013.