Vattenfall said Thursday it had won Contracts for Difference for the Norfolk Boreas offshore wind farm, the first phase of Vattenfall’s Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone and one of the world’s largest offshore wind zones.
The CfD scheme is the UK’s main policy mechanism for supporting low-carbon electricity generation, providing successful CfD bidders with a contract for a 15-year fixed revenue stream.
The UK government has awarded Vattenfall a CfD at £37.35/MWh (2012 prices) for the 1.4GW Norfolk Boreas offshore wind farm.
In this first phase, Norfolk Boreas will secure renewable electricity, equivalent to meeting the needs of around 1.5 million households in the UK.
With construction planned to begin next year, Norfolk Boreas is the first phase of Vattenfall’s Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone, coming ahead of the Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farm.
According to Vattenfall, the Norfolk Boreas wind farm will feature turbines of the maximum tip height of up to 350 meters, around two and a half times the height of the London Eye. Each turn of a turbine blade could power an average UK home for more than two days, the company said.
Norfolk Boreas will deliver its first power in the mid-to-late-2020s and save around 2.3 million tonnes of CO2 once fully operational.
Once complete, the Norfolk Zone will produce enough renewable electricity to power more than four million homes and will be one of the largest offshore wind zones in the world. The projects are still subject to final investment decisions by Vattenfall’s Board of Directors.
Helene Biström, Head of Business Area Wind at Vattenfall, said: "Saving over two million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the Contracts for Difference (CfD) award is the first step to make Vattenfall’s Norfolk Zone, one of the largest offshore wind zones in the world, happen. This is fully in line with Vattenfall’s goal to enable fossil-free living within one generation.”