Greater Gabbard
Located 23km off Suffolk coast. Inner Gabbard (56 turbines) and Galloper Sand (84 turbines) arrays. Round 2 development.
Status
Operationallifecycle stage
Ownership
SSE Renewables — 50% ◆
RWE — 50% ◆Location
United KingdomNorth Sea
Technology
Capacity
504 MW ◆
Turbines
140 × 3.6 MW ◆
Model
Siemens Swt 3-6-107 ◆
Foundation
Monopile ◆
Site & conditions
Site rights
Seabed rights held ∴
Origination
Crown Estate Round 2 · 2003 ·
Water depth
24–34 m ◆
Distance from shore
23 km ◆
Wind speed
9.5 m/s @ 100 m ≈
Revenue & grid
Offtake
Other ∅
Grid
Secured · 2007-02-19 ◆
Connection
Onshore substation at Sizewell, Suffolk (132kV XLPE subsea … ◆
Schedule
FID
Taken · date not recorded ∅
COD
Sep 2012 ◆
Project timeline & ownership verified milestones on the spine · ownership from Hafrok’s transactions record
Origination · 2003-12
Crown Estate Round 2
- Awarded to
- SSE / RWE
- Basis
- seabed award
From the auction results — the round that created the project.
Acquisition · 2008-05
Fluor International → SSE Renewables 50%
- Stake
- 50%
- Consideration
- €50.0m
- Implied 100% value
- €100m
- Implied
- €0.20m / MW
- Announced
- 2008-05
- Project stage
- consented
SSE acquired Airtricity in February 2008 (which held 50% of Greater Gabbard) and shortly thereafter bought out Fluor International's remaining 50% co-development stake for GBP 40m. SSE had always intended to retain only 50% and sell the rest. Project had consent at this point (granted 2007). Converted at GBP/EUR ~1.24 (2008).
Evidence
From Hafrok’s transactions record
Farmdown · 2008-11
SSE Renewables → RWE 50%
- Stake
- 50%
- Consideration
- €382m
- Implied 100% value
- €763m
- Implied
- €1.51m / MW
- Announced
- 2008-11
- Project stage
- under construction
SSE sold 50% of Greater Gabbard to RWE npower (RWE's UK subsidiary) for GBP 308m, establishing the current 50:50 JV. Reported as reimbursement of half the capital costs already incurred by SSE. A further ~GBP 1.3bn of construction capex remained. GBP/EUR ~1.24 (2008). Project had consent (2007) and significant construction costs were already sunk at deal time. Commissioned September 2012.
Evidence
- nsenergybusiness.com ↗
- modernpowersystems.com — SSE sells Greater Gabbard stake to RWE ↗ 2008-11 ◆ held
From Hafrok’s transactions record
Dashed tick marks today (9 Sep 2026). The teal diamond on the spine is origination — the seabed award or round that created the project. Every other ownership event lives in the band below: one station per recorded deal, dated at its label, in deal order rather than to calendar scale. Secondary trades appear only at the interchanges; grey lines are parties whose entry or exit Hafrok’s record does not hold.
Announced-COD history: 2012-Q3→2012-09 · 2 recorded revisions · held (announced 2012-Q3, unchanged)
Revenue & offtake the regime the project was built under
Offtake regime on record
RegimeRenewables Obligation: ~2.0 ROCs/MWh (offshore wind accredited ~2012 under ROO 2009 — rate UNCONFIRMED; no project-specific Ofgem accreditation record located)
A built project sells its power under the contract or support regime it was financed with; it is not expected to bid into new government offtake rounds. Where the record does not yet name that regime, the row says so rather than guessing.
Installation how the build is going · from satellite counts and Hafrok’s registers
Satellite survey
the farm as it stands, counted from satellite radar images · built before the count began, so there is no build to chart
Satellite survey
Structures standing142≈140 turbines + 2 platforms expected · every expected structure seen
Surveyed2026-09-01≈from 120 satellite passes
Built2009 → 2012-09offshore construction to start of operation, from the record
Hafrok counts the structures standing in the sea from satellite radar images (≈) and reads the count against the turbines and platforms on record. The farm was built before this count began, so the images show it complete; they cannot date its construction. Rows marked with a dot (·) come from Hafrok’s own registers.
Satellite image
Image taken2026-09-07≈Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar satellite, northbound pass
Farm covered100%≈the whole farm lies inside the image
Structures ringed142 confirmed · 0 not yet confirmed≈as counted on 2026-09-01 · the image is newer than the count, so a bright spot without a ring may be a structure not yet counted
Construction ports
PortPort of Harwich ∅construction base
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026, processed by ESA and by Microsoft Planetary Computer.
Latest satellite radar image · 2026-09-07
a radar picture, not a photograph: the sea is dark, steel is bright · black is beyond the edge of the image
confirmed structure (142)seen recently, not yet confirmed (0)probably a substation platform (a larger structure than a turbine; the register above has the facts)farm boundary
Grid connection
from Hafrok’s substation, converter and cable registers
Offshore platforms · 2
Offshore substationInner Gabbard offshore substation·33/132 kV · in service 2012 · owner Greater Gabbard OFTO Plc; built by Greater Gabbard Offshore Winds Ltd (SSE / RWE npower renewables JV)
Offshore substationThe Galloper offshore substation·33/132 kV · in service 2012 · owner Greater Gabbard OFTO Plc; built by Greater Gabbard Offshore Winds Ltd (SSE / RWE npower renewables JV)
Grid connection · ready in time?
when each part of the grid connection is due, against the start date the developer states (black line) · a bar spans the whole year, quarter or month the source gives
installed or in serviceexpected deliveryearlier date that was later moved
Sources & verification
15/18 fields verified · rests on 10 sources (8 primary) · ◆ 7 documents held
◆Verified≈Modelled◇Sourced∴Inferred⌁Convention○Unverified∅No source·Derived
Numbers are stable citation ids — grouped by source class, so they are not consecutive.
Regulator1
[10]
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026-05-06◆ Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD…
“REPD Q1 2026 quarterly extract — Ref ID 2510: Site Name "Greater Gabbard Wind Farm", Development Status "Operational", Installed Capacity 504 MWelec, Operator "Airtricity / Fluor Ltd"”
supportsRegister entry
Operator7
[1]
Fluor Corporation2007-02-19◆ Greater Gabbard Wind Farm Receives Conse…
“Greater Gabbard Offshore Winds Limited (GGOWL), an Airtricity and Fluor joint venture, today received planning permission for the construction of an offshore wind farm to be located 25km off the coast…”
supportsConsentTurbinesStatusConnection pointDistance from shore+1 more
[2]
RWE AG2022-06-20◆ RWE wins long term service & maintenance…
“Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm is a joint venture between RWE Renewables (50%) and SSE Renewables (50%) and has been in operation since 2012, generating enough low-carbon renewable energy each yea…”
supportsTurbinesUnit capacityTotal capacity
[3]
RWE AG2022-09-07◆ A decade of clean energy celebrated at G…
“All 140 turbines of the joint venture between RWE Renewables (50%) and SSE Renewables (50%) have been operational since September 2012 [...] Located in the North Sea, around 20km off the coast of Suff…”
supportsCommercial operationCOD historyTurbinesTotal capacity
[5]
Fluor Corporation2013
“Onshore construction began in 2008 [...] offshore construction in summer 2009. 140 wind turbines total, each rated at 3.6 MW capacity. Steel monopiles: 84,000 tons total. Three 132-kilovolt subsea cab…”
supportsTurbinesModelUnit capacityFoundation
[6]
SSE Renewables2024◆ Greater Gabbard | SSE Renewables
“504MW offshore wind farm [...] 50:50 Joint Venture between SSE Renewables and RWE Renewables. A pioneering project for the UK offshore wind industry. Development rights were awarded in 2003, planning …”
supportsFirst powerTotal capacityCoordinates
[8]
[11]
National Energy System Operator (NESO)2026-07-21◆ NESO Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) R…
“NESO TEC Register, edition 21 July 2026 - PRO-000168: "Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm", Status "Built", MW Connected 500, Effective From n/a, Customer "GREATER GABBARD OFFSHORE WINDS LIMITED"”
supportsRegister entry
Trade press2
[4]
[9]