Thanet Offshore Wind Farm: Planning for Environment and the Economy

Proposed view of constructed wind farm from Broadstairs Promenade.

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Renewable energy is proving to be a continually growing industry as the UK strives to meet tough targets; it is also helping to create employment opportunities in areas that have suffered weak local economies in the recent past. LDA Design has been involved in 8 out of the 15 Crown Estate's Round 2 wind farms, which includes the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm situated around 7 miles off the north east coast of Kent.

Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, located to the south of the approved 1,000 MW London Array scheme, was the first of the Round 2 developments to receive consent in autumn 2005. We were appointed by Warwick Energy in 2005 to undertake the Seascape and Visual Impact Assessment (SVIA) and a Cumulative Impact Assessment as a key part of the Environmental Statement supporting the planning application.

Once complete, the one hundred Vestas V90 wind turbines, 150m high to blade tip, will provide a total capacity of 300MW, approximately 240,000 homes equivalent of renewable energy per year. Erection of the turbines commenced in 2008 and the wind farm is due to become operational in 2010.

Building the wind farm will increase employment in the area, with Thanet District Council  estimating that a total of 800 new jobs will be created during the 3 year construction period, with a further 100 jobs created in Ramsgate once the wind farm becomes operational and Ramsgate is established as the maintenance base for the development. Such is the project's influence that the wind industry features in Thanet 2030, a regeneration vision for the district, which cites the ‘thriving wind farm industry' as a factor in the renewal of the local economy.