March 10 - Strategic investment in three offshore wind farm facilities off the English east coast are blowing business the way of the Port of Harwich, writes Kirsten Shepherd.
The port has commenced involvement in the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm development, the latest of a series of wind farms being built around the UK's coast. Situated 12km off Foreness Point in Kent, it will eventually consist of a total of 100 turbines.
The Thanet project follows previous operations for the Gunfleet Sands and Greater Gabbard projects supported at Harwich. The work at Harwich commenced with recent calls by the installation ship Volantis and barge UR 101, both performing a cable spooling operation.
David Gledhilll, CEO of Harwich port owner Hutchison Ports UK Ltd, said: "This latest project confirms that Harwich International has the right location, facilities, and expertise to support current, and future, wind farm developments."
Thanet is being developed by Sweden's Vattenfall, Europe's fifth largest generator of electricity. When complete, its turbines will be capable of generating 300 MW of electricity, enough to supply around 240,000 homes per year with clean energy.
