The extension of an offshore wind farm off the Kent coast has been officially inaugurated.

The Kentish Flats Extension (KFE) wind farm consists of 15 turbines with a total capacity of 49.5MW.

They are expected to generate enough electricity to power 35,000 homes per year.

The project is an extension of the 11-year old Kentish Flats which has a capacity of 90MW.

According to Vattenfall, which owns the wind farm, it will help the firm towards operating a competitive, low cost, world beating fleet of offshore wind farms in the next 10 years.

Gunnar Groebler, Vattenfall’s Vice President of Business Area Wind said: “Kentish Flats Extension is a relatively small scheme which punches above its weight. Novel foundations, safer and quicker installation, new procedures, longer blades: these and other innovations mean that KFE is a flag bearer for knowledge driven cost reduction. Vattenfall and the industry are ahead on the low cost energy challenge.”