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Commissioned in 2014, the 389 MW West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm, a 50/50 partnership, marks a decade of clean energy generation. Located 14 km off the Cumbrian coast in the Irish Sea, the wind farm’s 108 Siemens 3.6 MW turbines have delivered enough renewable energy to power approximately 340,000 homes annually—equivalent to the population of Leeds.
The £1 billion project not only advanced the UK’s renewable energy goals but also supported over 1,000 jobs during peak construction and created 40 long-term skilled roles at its operations base in Barrow-in-Furness. Additionally, it drove significant investment in Belfast Harbour, home to the UK and Ireland’s first purpose-built offshore wind installation facility.
As Iberdrola’s first offshore wind farm, West of Duddon Sands paved the way for ScottishPower’s leadership in the UK offshore wind sector, with an operational portfolio exceeding 1 GW and a development pipeline of over 10 GW. Charlie Jordan, ScottishPower Renewables CEO, said: “West of Duddon Sands was quite literally our first toe in the waters of offshore wind. It’s been amazing to see how that part of our business has grown over the last ten years and how the focus on powering our lives with clean, green energy has shifted.
“It’s no coincidence that only two years after we opened our first offshore windfarm, ScottishPower closed its coal-fired power stations and became the first major UK energy company to only generate 100% green energy.
“We’ve also helped drive the ambition and innovation that is the hallmark of the offshore wind industry today, where the turbines we’re installing have more than four times the capacity of West of Duddon Sands and we’re taking our projects into deeper waters than ever before.
“None of that would be possible if it wasn’t for West of Duddon Sands and it will always have a special place in our hearts for being the windfarm that started our offshore journey – and set the scene for what’s to come.”
