The East Anglia One wind farm has been completed after a £2.5bllion investment.
All 102 Siemens Gamesa turbines, around 25miles off the Suffolk coast, have been made fully operational.
The giant project has capacity to produce 714MW of clean energy, enough to power the equivalent of more than 630,000 homes.
Developer Scottish Power Renewables said around 20% of the installation work was carried out during lockdown, making it an “incredible achievement”.
The project supported almost 3,500 jobs during construction which started in 2017, while 100 long-term skilled jobs have been created at East Anglia One’s operations and maintenance base in Lowestoft.
East Anglia One is a joint venture between Scottish Power Renewables and Green Investment Group (GIG), owned by the Australian investment bank Macquarie, coming at a total cost of £2.5bn.
Project director Charlie Jordan praised the team for delivering the project on time amid an “unprecedented pandemic”.
He said: “The final commissioning of East Anglia One is an incredible milestone for us and our project partners, as well as our wider stakeholders, the East Anglian region and the whole of the UK.
“And it comes at a crucial time as the UK takes it first steps towards a green economic recovery.
“Reaching this point was always going to be an extremely important moment for us – heralding the start of full production of green energy from a major site that will play a real part in the UK’s path to Net Zero.”
East Anglia One is the first of four wind farms Scottish Power Renewables, owned by Spain’s Iberdrola, is developing in the region.
Edward Northam, head of GIG Europe “Successfully commissioning one of the world’s largest offshore windfarms on time, despite all of the challenges posed by Covid-19, is a testament to the incredible efforts of the whole East Anglia One team – and the many UK businesses that have supported the project.
“It is a reminder that the UK continues to lead the world in the successful delivery of offshore wind projects, and I’m proud of the role that Green Investment Group has played, and continues to play, in supporting and funding the development of this market.”
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