A new 288MW offshore wind farm in Germany has started to deliver full power to the grid three months early.

Vattenfall’s €1.2 billion (£1.02bn) Sandbank project features 72 Siemens wind turbines, each providing 4MW of renewable capacity.

The wind farm is expected to produce enough electricity each year to supply around 400,000 German households.

Compared to energy produced from the country’s more traditional sources, it will result in 700,000 tonnes of annual Carbon Dioxide emission reductions.

Gunnar Groebler, Head of Vattenfall Wind, said: “We delivered Sandbank three and a half months prior to schedule and well within budget. This is a great success and a proof point that we clearly delivered on our promises made in August 2014. Furthermore it demonstrates our ability for continuous improvement even whilst constructing our projects.”