One of the first offshore wind farms built in the UK has been given the go ahead to extend by the Energy Secretary Edward Davey.

First erected in 2005, the Kentish Flats Offshore Wind Farm ­– owned by electricity company Vattenfall – is made up of five rows of six megawatt (MW) turbines, sited in an area of 10 km2 just outside the main Thames shipping lane.

It is estimated the turbines generate more than 280 gigawatt hours of green electricity every year – enough to power over 61,000 UK households for one year.

The site will now be extended to include a further 10 to 17 turbines to generate between 90,000 megawatt hours and 150,000 megawatt hours of clean electricity annually – enough to power a further 35,000 homes. Depending on the number of turbines deployed it could cost more than £150 million to install the extension.

Construction on the site is expected to start in early 2015, with the completed site estimated to start generating renewable power in ‘late 2015 or early 2016’.

Large amounts of clean energy

Edward Davey, Energy and Climate Change Secretary, released a development consent order to Vattenfall yesterday (19 February), saying: “As well as providing large amounts of clean energy, offshore wind will support jobs and generate major investment up and down the country.

“Vattenfall’s decision to extend an existing project reflects the ongoing attractiveness of the UK as a place to do business in renewable energy.”

Goran Loman, Vattenfall’s Project Manager for the extension, added: “We welcome the Secretary of State’s timely decision. Kentish Flats Extension will make a major contribution to generation from Vattenfall’s large fleet of offshore wind capacity in UK waters and help the delivery of UK climate change and renewable energy obligations.

“The decision is good news for businesses in and around Whitstable and Herne Bay. We have already engaged with well over 100 local companies and we hope that many of them will win business from the £150 million plus investment.”

Calls to increase renewable energy

The extension consent comes as part of the Department of Energy and Climate Change's promise to 'incentivise a record £110 billion of private sector investment in new clean power generation - in renewables, new gas, nuclear and carbon capture and storage'.

The lack of clean energy in the UK has been a source of contention amongst industry and environmentalists alike, with growing calls for government to 'tackle rocketing fuel bills' by promoting renewable energy and ending the nation's over-reliance on gas and fossil fuels.

The main method cited for doing this is by implementing a 2030 decarbonisation target for the electricity market in government's Energy Bill (currently going through Parliament).

Read more about the Kentish Flats Offshore Wind Farm.