UK Approves East Anglia One Offshore Wind Farm Project

The British government has approved the construction of the 1,200 megawatt (MW) East Anglia One offshore wind farm project which is expected to begin generating electricity from 2019, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said on Tuesday.

Based off the coast of Suffolk, the project is a 50:50 joint venture between Sweden's state-owned utility Vattenfall and Scottish Power Renewables, a subsidiary of Spanish energy firm Iberdrola (IBE.MC).

"The East Anglia One offshore wind farm that is expected to support almost 2,900 jobs and bring over 520 million pounds ($873 million) of investment into the UK's economy has today been given consent from the government to go ahead," DECC said in a statement.

Vattenfall and Scottish Power Renewables say that the project will have up to 325 turbines with an installed capacity of 1,200 MW, although initial plans are for just 240 turbines which DECC said would still generate enough electricity to power approximately 820,000 homes.

"East Anglia and the rest of the UK have a lot to gain from this development. The project has the potential to inject millions of pounds into the local and national economies, and support thousands of green jobs," said Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey.

DECC said that construction work is expected to start in 2017.

($1=0.5956 British pounds)

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Greg Mahlich)