Wind farms and watermills are renewable industrial energy sources for rural towns and catalysts for commercial activity. This fact is especially true for Kent County in the beginnings of industrial times, as they harvested energy from water channels leading to the River Thames. During this era, as many as 400 windmills and watermills operated in the region, helping farmers grow their farms and commercialize their products.
Today, wind farm technology advanced with the electronics, design, and manufacturing, allowing the region’s billion-dollar wind farms to full circle from windmills to turbines–particularly near Thames Estuary.
Where is Kent?
Kent is a home county located southeast of London. The counties lining its borders are East Sussex to its South-West and Surrey to the West. While it’s all land to the west, Kent has two large bodies of water on the East going to Europe. The River Thames and Outer Thames to its north, the English Channel to the south, and the North Sea to the east. Essex sits to the north beyond the Thames.
The coastal town of Folkstone, Kent, is close enough for a quick boat ride at 70 kilometres away from Calais, France, the city nearest to England. At the shortest part of the English Bay, Dover Strait, travel is less than half of that distance.
UK’s coastline has many offshore wind turbines. The Kent coastline is the first to develop some milestone farms, such as Kentish Flats and Thanet Offshore Wind Farm.
A Crown Estates sponsored study also considers Outer Thames to be a strategic region of interest with the territorial sea of the UK. Even within just 12 nautical miles of Kent coastline, Outer Thames estuary holds a general potential of 24 GW offshore wind capacity, irrespective of environmental assessments and other project roadblocks.
The Future Offshore study, conducted in 2002 as a joint undertaking between academic, private, and NGOs considered Outer Thames to have 12% of total potential wind energy within the territorial sea of the UK.
Windmills in Kent
Kent was an economic force due to the numerous benefits of windmills and watermills during early industrial times. Because tributaries ran generously from the Thames to Kent county, citizens would utilize these tributaries for watermills. At the same time, windmills were set up on top of houses, allowing yearlong water supply for cattle.
Some windmills were restored for the heritage and culture, giving people a snapshot of its history. Kent City Council maintains eight windmills in partnership with private trusts.
Today, there are still windmills that survived the era, but the value of wind energy has grown exponentially higher. Turbines can energize not just a community but tens of thousands of households for an entire generation.
The visualization illustrates the three wind farms and their placements and orientation in the Outer Thames. The largest is the 630 MW London Array, and the smallest is Kentish Flats to the lower left. Three centuries ago, placing windmills in the middle of the sea would probably be ridiculous to consider even for the boldest scientist. Yet, these turbines continue the tradition of wind energy in the county. More than 300 turbines are now installed in these offshore farms near Kent county, ranging from a few square kilometers to 100.
Wind Industry in Kent
There are three major offshore wind farms off the Kent coast: Thanet, Kentish Flats Wind, and London Array. All of these farms are harnessing wind from the North Sea.
The UK holds tremendous potential for its offshore projects, most of which are in the North Sea. UK’s strong winds can be an immense renewable energy source.
The North Sea has a vortex bringing winds from the UK and Europe. Snippet wind data show that the North Sea winds at 128 meters above ground can travel with powerful gusts, particularly towards the east. The primary beneficiary of these winds is the farms in Outer Thames and the offshore farms in the southern part of the North Sea. As a county in the Southeast of England, the winds favor Kent.
In total, offshore wind energy contributed 41 Terawatthours to the UK National Grid in the past 12 months (as of June 2022). In Kent County, the primary producer of wind energy is the London Array wind farm, with 630 MW of installed capacity.
Wind Farms in Kent Overview
This table describes the important details about Kentish Flats, Thanet, and London Array.
| Detail | Kentish Flats | Thanet | London Array |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Vattenfall | Vattenfall | Orsted |
| Commissioned Year | 2005 | 2010 | 2013 |
| Investment | £105 Million | £780 Million | £1.8 Billion |
| Turbine Count | 46 | 100 | 175 |
| Turbine Model | Vestas | Vestas | Siemens |
| Nameplate Capacity | 139 MW | 300 MW | 630 MW |
How much energy do Kent Wind farms produce?
The three wind farms of Thanet Wind Farm, Kentish Flats, and London Array generate 1,700 MW of renewable wind energy. This can power almost 800,000 homes with clean electricity.
How much was invested in Kent wind farms?
The cost of the three wind farms is £780 million, £105 million, and £1.8 billion for Thanet, Kentish Flats, and London Array, respectively. The total investment is £2.775 billion.
How many wind turbines are in Kent?
Kent wind farms have a total of 320 wind turbines. Kentish Flats has 45, Thanet has 100, and London Array has 175. Kentish Flats and Thanet use Vestas for a total of 145 Vestas turbines. In comparison, London Array has 175 Siemens turbines.
Thanet Offshore Wind Farm
From the time it was built to completion in 2010, it held the world’s largest offshore wind farm record. On top of that, it also featured industry and world-first two power transformers. By 2012, the project generated 821 GWh in its operating year. The wind power was enough to provide 240,000 English homes with electricity annually.
Started by Warwick Energy, the Swedish energy company Vattenfall acquired Thanet Offshore Wind Ltd. in 2008 from its first buyer, Christofferson, Robb & Co.
At the time, the supply chain in the UK was still growing. As a result, most suppliers came from foreign companies, and only 20% were from local contractors. Today, the best practice for development is with East Anglia One, which hired 50% of its suppliers within the UK. It reflects the growth in the supply chain in the UK.
Kentish Flats Offshore Wind Farm
It is only 8.9 km off the coast of Kent, England, at the nearest point, Herne Bay, a coastal community near Canterbury, England.
Vattenfall operates the wind farm. Starting with 30 turbines in 2005, the company added 15 more turbines in 2015. The total capacity is 139.5 MW.
London Array
The Crown Estate generously approved a 50-year lease in 2003 to the project owner, London Array Ltd. A short three years later, the UK government gave the project a nod to development in 2006. Ramsgate Harbor in Kent hosts the London Array’s onshore maintenance building.
Ramsgate Harbor is East of Kent. It is on the northern side of Cleve Hill with an architectural feature of a ‘North Wall,’ designed by RMJM architects to blend with the hillside. Meanwhile, the export cables connect to an onshore substation in the hillside North of Kent before linking to the 400 kV grid.
London Array generated its first power in October 2012. The project will continue to generate power for 500,000 homes in Kent during its expected operational life of 20-40 years.