RenewableUK, formerly known as the British Wind Energy Association, announced Monday that the U.K. hit a historic milestone of 20 gigawatts (GW) of wind generation capacity as of mid-September.
The record came after the Sept. 6 opening of what is considered the world's largest offshore wind farm, the Orsted’s 659 MW Walney Extension off the coast of Cumbria in the Irish Sea with a capacity to supply power to the equivalent of 590,000 homes.
According to RenewableUK's announcement, total operational capacity of onshore and offshore wind in the U.K. currently stands at 20,128 megawatts (MW). This capacity is enough to meet the electricity needs of 14 million homes annually, while cutting carbon emissions by 25 million tonnes a year.
-U.K. wind energy history
The U.K.’s first commercial onshore wind farm, Delabole in Cornwall, became operational in 1991 and the first offshore wind project in Blyth, Northumberland, England began generating in 2000.
Initially, wind deployment expanded slowly up to 2005 to 1 GW, enlarged to 5 GW in 2010, before growing rapidly to 10 GW in 2013 and 15 GW in early 2017.
'A further 5 GW, a quarter of total wind energy capacity, came online in the last 21 months, to push the U.K. above the 20 GW mark in September,' the statement read.
By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr