DONG Energy has received full consent to test two next generation 6 MW Siemens offshore wind turbines at the Gunfleet Sands site in South East England.

The Gunfleet Sands demonstration project marks an important step in industry's efforts to reduce the cost of energy. The Round 3 projects in the UK are in deeper waters and will have a much bigger capacity than existing wind farms so the technology will increase in capacity as well. 

The new turbines are being installed in January 2013 and the project is expected to be fully operational during Spring 2013. 

DONG Energy will be using the demonstration project to verify turbine performance, reliability and functionality.

The Gunfleet Sands 3 demonstration project is located 8.5 km south east of Clacton on Sea.

A prototype of the 6 MW turbine is also being tested at an onshore test centre at Hovsore, Denmark.