Super-tall wind turbines installed offshore Britain

FREDERICIA, Denmark, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Turbines installed in Liverpool Bay at 640 feet tall are the largest of their kind in the world, Danish company DONG Energy said.

The company announced it installed the first of the 32 turbines planned for its Burbo Bank extension project off the British coast. At 8 megawatts each, the turbines will be able to generate enough power to meet the annual electricity demands of nearly a quarter-million average British households, the company said.

"By using bigger turbines, we're able to bring down the cost of providing clean, renewable energy to homes around the United Kingdom," Claus Bojle Moller, the project director, said in a statement.

The total amount of electricity generated from renewable energy resources in the United Kingdom during the first quarter of the year increased 6.4 percent from the same period last year. The government said there was an 11 percent decline for electricity generated from onshore wind, but a 10 percent increase for offshore wind.

Nine countries that share a border with the North Sea -- Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden – agreed this year to improve infrastructure to support offshore wind.

In a recent report, the European Commission found better connectivity and coordination in the regional offshore wind market could lead to up to $5.8 billion in savings.

The Danish company this year moved forward with plans to build the Hornsea wind farm off the coast of Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. Designed with a full capacity of more than 1,000 megawatts, it will be the world's largest offshore wind farm ever built.

DONG said installing the mega-turbine was a first step in make further progress in British offshore wind. First power from the Burbo expansion is expected later this year.