Thanet's first offshore wind turbine

THE first wind turbine has gone up at the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm.

The company behind the green energy project, Vattenfall, finished putting up the turbine at dawn on December 9.

When it is complete the windfarm, 8 miles off Foreness Point, will be the biggest in the world.

It has been under construction since 2008. All 100 wind turbines are due to start generating electricity in the second half of 2010.

David Hodkinson, the head of development at Vattenfall Wind Power in the UK, said: "The erection of the first wind turbine at Thanet is a fantastic achievement and we now look to make good progress towards completing the project in 2010.

"We really appreciate the continued high levels of public support from people and businesses in Kent and we would like to acknowledge the incredible efforts our suppliers, including turbine supplier Ves-tas, have put in to help us reach this important milestone."

On completion the wind farm will comprise of 100 Vestas V90 wind turbines and have a total capacity of 300 megawatts. This is sufficient to supply approximately the equivalent of 240,000 homes per year with clean energy.