27 April 2009 - Dong Energy is to build the offshore wind farm Walney II in the Irish Sea.

The move is a result of the British government's increase in funding towards sustainable energy, which the British chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling announced in his budget.

Walney II is to be affiliated with Dong Energy's Walney I offshore wind farm, for which planning has been completed. The British government's announcement, to increase offshore support to two renewables obligation certificates (ROCs), has provided the foundation on which to commence construction. The expected investment in Walney I and II is to total DKK 9.7bn ($1.73bn).

Combined, the wind farms will have a total capacity of 367 MW, and consist of 102 turbines. The planned completion date for Walney I is at the beginning of 2011.

Walney II is expected to be completed in 2012. The total volume of power produced will be the equivalent of the annual consumption of about 250 000 households.

The turbines that are to be used in the Walney projects are part of a supply contract concluded between Dong Energy and Siemens Wind Power in March 2009. The agreement concerns the supply of up to 500 turbines for Dong Energy's planned offshore wind farm projects; Walney will use the first 102 of the turbines detailed in the contract.

Anders Eldrup, CEO of Dong Energy, said: "It is encouraging that the investment regime has now been created to allow us to implement our strategy of considerably expanding Dong Energy's position within sustainable energy. With the two ROCs, we can now begin the construction of Walney I and II."