DONG Energy has bought the Race Bank offshore wind farm project from Centrica.
The news comes just a day after the Danish giant committed to Grimsby for operations and maintenance of Westermost Rough.
With the state-owned company having established a high specification construction base in the town, Grimsby is likely to be at the forefront of both the build project and the long-term running of it.
Centrica, also operational in the town having realised the first three wind farms off the Lincolnshire coast, has taken the project through the planning and Front End Engineering Design phase, and was awaiting financial sign-off.
Samuel Leupold, executive vice president of Dong Energy Wind Power said: "Race Bank fits very well into our existing pipeline of offshore wind projects
and will contribute to the achievement of our strategic target of constructing
6,500 MW by 2020. The addition of up to 580 megawatt to our UK project
portfolio underlines our commitment to the UK market in general, and to the UK offshore wind sector in particular.
"The Race Bank project is located relatively close to shore, with good wind resources, low water depths, and seabed conditions similar to Dong Energy's other UK Round Two projects. I am confident that given our proven experience in developing and building offshore wind farms and the forward visibility on tariffs until the end of the decade created by the Electricity Market Reform - we can turn this into a successful project."
A decision to actually build the project is still pending and depends on a continued successful development of the farm under Dong's ownership.
Race Bank is situated 27km off the Norfolk Coast and was consented in 2012. Once fully developed it could meet the equivalent annual electricity demand of more than 450,000 UK homes.
Mark Hanafin, managing director of Centrica Energy said: "This transaction marks the next step in the development of the Race Bank wind farm and we are pleased that the project will continue to progress towards a final investment decision."
