The official inauguration of Vattenfall’s Kentish Flats Extension (KFE) offshore wind farm is being held today, with the ceremonial ribbon cut on board the MV Balmoral, 7km off Herne Bay and Whitstable.
Vattenfall is ahead on the low cost energy challenge, according to Gunnar Groebler , Vattenfall’s Vice President of Business Area Wind, who highlighted important innovation on Kentish Flats Extension: “The innovation we have deployed at KFE takes Vattenfall on its next step towards really competitive offshore wind.”
Groebler said that solutions to engineering challenges on KFE are helping Vattenfall towards operating a competitive, low cost, world beating fleet of offshore wind farms in the next ten years. He further added that extensions to existing wind farms offered significant cost advantages and he praised The Crown Estate for its initiative to encourage these projects in 2010.
Kentish Flats Extension will be run from Vattenfall’s base at Ramsgate Harbour, where 75+ staff look after three company’s wind farms, totalling 145 turbines.
“We hope that local people around Herne Bay and Whitstable will value this new wind farm. There is an important international centre of offshore wind excellence emerging along the Kent coast, supporting the local economy, and we are happy to be part of that success story,” Groebler said.
The 49.5MW wind farm was constructed through 2014 and 2015, and was completed late last year.
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