German power giant, E.ON AG has submitted a planning application to construct an offshore wind farm that would lie 8km off the East Yorkshire coast in the North Sea. Called the Humber Gateway Offshore Wind Farm, it will have a power capacity of 300MW and would generate enough renewable energy to power around 200,000 homes per year.

The proposed project is still subject to planning approval and it has alread come up against opposition from the Ministry of Defense on the grounds that the wind turbines would disrupt radar images. Like, I’m sure the radar operators wouldn’t be able to pick up the difference between a wind turbine sitting in the ocean and an object hurtling towards the coastline!

Despite the objections by the MoD, E.ON is pushing on with the submission of its application. The expected cost of developing and constructing the wind farm is £700m.

Dr Paul Golby, Chief Executive of E.ON UK, said: “The next generation of large-scale offshore wind farms like Humber Gateway have a vital role to play in the UK’s future energy mix. 

“This scheme will displace the emission of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year and will make a significant contribution to helping the Government meet its tough renewable energy targets.

The application is the first for an offshore wind farm since Business Secretary John Hutton’s call for more than 33GW of offshore wind to be installed by 2020.