The world’s largest offshore wind farm has started generating power for the first time.
The wind farm, known as Dogger Bank, has now been connected to the National Grid’s electricity transmission network.
The £9 billion project is part of the UK’s drive to increase how much of its power it produces from renewable sources.
It is hoped that the new wind farm will help boost the UK’s energy security in the short to long-term.
Celebrating the announcement on X (formerly Twitter), Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho said the project would create thousands of jobs.
She wrote: “Dogger Bank – the world’s largest offshore wind farm – is generating power from UK waters for the first time.
“This £9 billion project will power six million homes – that’s good for energy security and for the thousands of quality jobs it’s created here in the UK.”
The National Grid said Dogger Bank will be able to power all six million homes when the project is completed in 2026.
In a statement, National Grid’s, John Twomey said: “Congratulations to everyone involved – Dogger Bank’s first power is a momentous engineering achievement, and marks another milestone in Britain’s clean energy transition.
“It’s a particularly proud moment for our connections and asset operations teams, whose work reinforcing our Creyke Beck substation to connect the wind farm’s green power to our network is a key part of this project’s success story.”
Dogger Bank is the latest in a series of renewable energy projects to begin producing electricity in recent months.
Earlier this year, the UK’s first transmission solar farm went live in England.
The 49.9MW solar farm is the first in the country to feed electricity into the National Grid transmission network.
The project is capable of producing over 73,000MWh (megawatt hours) every year, enough to power over 17,000 homes and displace around 20,000 tonnes of CO2.
When the announcement was made in May, National Grid’s Roisin Quinn said: “Solar power has a critical role to play in the clean energy transition, so connecting the first PV array to our high-voltage transmission network represents a key step on that journey and a great achievement by Cero, Enso and our engineering teams.
“This net zero milestone comes as we’re investing in the biggest upgrade to the grid in a generation, enabling more home-grown renewable electricity to power the country than ever before.”
