Gunfleet Sands 01
Gunfleet Sands 01 is a 173 MW offshore wind farm in East of England, England, operated by Orsted. The UK government lists it as operational in its register of power stations (DUKES table 5.11, May 2025).
- Offshore
- East of England
- England
Key facts
- Installed capacity
- 173 MW
- Status
- Operational
- Technology
- Wind Β· Offshore
- Operator
- Orsted
- Region
- East of England
- Country
- England
- Grid connection (DUKES)
- HV
- Combined heat & power
- No
- Coordinates
- 51.7308, 1.2180
Location
Map position from the published coordinates. For small sites this can be an approximate point rather than the exact boundary. Map Β© OpenStreetMap contributors.
How Gunfleet Sands 01 compares
At a typical UK load factor for this technology (about 38% of the maximum possible output), a 173 MW station would generate roughly 575 GWh of electricity in a year, similar to the annual use of about 213,040 homes at 2,700 kWh each. This is an illustrative estimate, not the station's metered output: real generation varies with weather, availability and grid constraints.
Wind farms turn the kinetic energy of the wind into electricity with turbines. Output varies with wind speed. Offshore sites usually see stronger, steadier winds than onshore sites and so generate more per MW of capacity.
All UK wind farms Wind farms in East of England All run by OrstedNearby generating sites
- Gunfleet Sands 02 Β· 173 MW offshore wind farm2.0 km
- Gunfleet Sands Demo Β· 12 MW offshore wind farm3.6 km
- Earls Hall Farm Β· 10.3 MW onshore wind farm11.4 km
- Chisbon Β· 12.3 MW solar farm13.5 km
- Bluegates Β· 10.7 MW solar farm20.6 km
- Wix Lodge (Stour Fields) Β· 18.7 MW solar farm21.2 km
- Bradwell Nuclear Power Station Β· 246 MW nuclear power station22.2 km
- London Array Β· 630 MW offshore wind farm22.7 km
Also operated by Orsted
Orsted operates 16 sites in the register. Largest first:
- Hornsea 02 Β· offshore wind farm1,386 MW
- Hornsea 01 Β· offshore wind farm1,218 MW
- Race Bank Β· offshore wind farm573 MW
- West of Duddon Sands Β· offshore wind farm389 MW
- Walney 01 Β· offshore wind farm368 MW
- Walney 02 Β· offshore wind farm368 MW
- Walney 03 Β· offshore wind farm330 MW
- Walney 04 Β· offshore wind farm329 MW
Planning history
From the government's Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), matched to this site by location, capacity and name.
- Planning status
- Operational
- Site name in planning record
- Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Scheme
- Developer / operator
- Orsted (formerly Dong Energy)
- Planning authority
- DECC (S36)
- Application submitted
- 1 March 2002
- Permission granted
- 1 March 2004
- Construction started
- 1 April 2009
- Began operating
- 24 July 2009
- Capacity in planning record
- 108 MW
- Address
- Gunfleet Sands 4 miles offshore from Holland-on-Sea Nr Clacton-on-Sea Essex, Offshore
- REPD reference
- 2490
Source
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES), table 5.11: power stations in the United Kingdom β operational at end of May 2025.
Capacity is installed capacity as published, not current output. Status reflects the source date, not live operation.
View the original source
Last checked by Octary: 15 July 2026
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