The wind turbines you can see from the end of the pier are part of the Lynn and Inner Dowsing Offshore Wind Farm. The wind farm is situated 5kms from the shore and when completed, there will be 57 turbines generating 187megawatts of power. At the moment it is producing enough power for 2,500 homes, but will power enough electricity to meet the needs of 54,500 households.

The power is carried ashore by six large cables, which go underneath the North Shore Golf Course, and on to a local substation. This caused much disruption to the course, as you can see from the photo, but everything is back to normal now.

Over a 25 year lifetime, the project will reduce emissions by approximately 5,000,000 of CO².

Disruption to local golf course

Each turbine is capable of generating 3 megawatts of power. This depends on the wind speed, with the turbines shutting down at a maximum wind speed of 25 metres per second (storm protection shutdown). If the wind blows at twice the speed, its energy content increases eight-fold. So, turbines at a site where the wind speed averages 8 metres per second produce around 75 – 100% more electricity than those where the average wind speed is 6 metres per second. The turbines stand approximately 80 metres from sea level to the hub, and the rotor arms measure approximately 60 metres each.

The UK’s first offshore wind farm was commissioned in December 2000 off Blyth Harbour in Northumberland. Since then, offshore development is set to increase steadily and the UK’s prospects are looking good, with a substantial proportion of the total European offshore wind resource located in Britain’s waters.