Nordic Business Report-December 18, 2006-Danish energy group DONG Energy A/S acquires Gunfleet Sands offshore wind power project in the UK (C)1994-2006 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com Danish energy group DONG Energy A/S announced on Monday (18 December) that it has acquired the rights to the Gunfleet Sands offshore windfarm project in the United Kingdom. DONG acquired the project company holding the rights to build the wind farm from General Electric for an undisclosed sum. The Gunfleet Sands project will be built seven kilometres offshore from Clacton-on-Sea in the North Thames Estuary and is expected to be completed by autumn 2009. "The Crown Estate are pleased that we have been able to work with the stakeholders in this project to get it back on track," commented Rob Hastings, director of Marine Estates at the UKs Crown Estate organisation. "We are encouraged by DONG Energys determination to build the windfarm and we look forward to another 100MW of capacity coming online. This will bring the total to 700MW of offshore wind generating capacity either already generating or committed for construction, representing over 1% of the UKs electricity demand and making the UK the world leader in offshore wind energy," Hastings said. DONG Energy, headquartered in Fredericia, is owned by the Danish state (73%) and Danish regional power utilities. ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected]))