London Array is the world's largest offshore wind farm

by buiness editor Trevor Sturgess

For the first time, electricity users are boiling kettles with power from London Array - the world's largest wind farm off the Kent coast.

The 151-turbine site - soon to be 175 - in the Thames Estuary some 10 miles from the Thanet coast, has started feeding electricity to the sub-station at Cleve Hill, Graveney, from where it goes into the National Grid.

The turbines - each as high as the London Eye - are laid out in lines and look impressive from the air.

Helicopter flights were arranged yesterday for the media and investors from Masdar, a 20% Abu Dhabi-based stakeholder. The other stakeholders are DONG Energy (50%) and E.ON (30%).

When the first phase of the project is completed, probably by the end of the year, London Array will have the capacity to generate combined power of 630MW, enough for 470,000 homes.