When built, two 1.2 GW offshore wind farms jointly will be one of the largest in the world. Britain already has more offshore wind than the rest of the planet combined and now is building more. Meanwhile, the U.S. has labored mightily and finally built the first platform for an offshore wind turbine.
The U.K. authorized the Forewind consortium of four European utilities to build the joint-largest offshore wind project in the world.
The two 1.2-gigawatt wind farms, called Dogger Bank Teesside A&B, total almost four times the capacity of the largest operational project. They won development permission from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, according to a statement e-mailed Wednesday by the Planning Inspectorate.
If built, Dogger Bank Teesside A&B will include as many as 400 wind turbines, support hundreds of jobs in northern England and provide enough electricity for 1.8 million homes,