The UK’s first major offshore wind farm, situated about five miles off the coast of Rhyl and Prestatyn on the North Wales coast, has gone live.
The North Hoyle offshore wind farm will generate enough clean electricity for up to 50,000 homes each year and has been developed by National Wind Power, the onshore and offshore wind farm development and management company.
A company source said the 30-turbine wind farm, which was built in just 8 months, would prevent the release of about 160,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year — the equivalent of removing some 80,000 cars from the UK’s roads.
National Wind Power’s sister company, npower, who supplies renewable energy to UK households, and the environmental group, Greenpeace, have developed npower Juice, a clean electricity product available to domestic customers at no extra cost. Once fully operational, North Hoyle will become the sole source of npower Juice.
npower and Greenpeace have also announced the creation of the “npower Juice Fund”, which is designed to encourage projects in other renewable energy fields such as wave and tidal energy. npower will make a contribution of £10 for every customer of 12 months’ standing, up to a maximum of £500,000 per year. The fund will be used throughout the UK to help support research into new renewable technologies.