Gunfleet Sands
Gunfleet Sands 1 (30 turbines) and Gunfleet Sands 2 (18 turbines), combined 172.8 MW.
Status
Operationallifecycle stage
Ownership
Location
United KingdomNorth Sea
Technology
Capacity
172.8 MW ◆
Turbines
48 × 3.6 MW ◆
Model
Siemens Swt 3-6-107 ◆
Foundation
Monopile ◆
Site & conditions
Site rights
Seabed rights held ∴
Origination
Crown Estate Round 1 · 2001 ·
Water depth
2–15 m ◆
Distance from shore
7 km ◆
Wind speed
9.0 m/s @ 100 m ≈
Revenue & grid
Offtake
Other ◆
Grid
Secured ◆
Connection
Clacton substation (132 kV), Essex; export cable lands at … ◆
Schedule
FID
2007 ∅
COD
2010-Q2 ◆
Project timeline & ownership verified milestones on the spine · ownership from Hafrok’s transactions record
Origination · 2001-04
Crown Estate Round 1
- Awarded to
- DONG Energy (now Ørsted)
- Basis
- seabed award
From the auction results — the round that created the project.
Farmdown · 2011-09
Ørsted → Marubeni 49.9%
- Stake
- 49.9%
- Consideration
- €230m
- Implied 100% value
- €461m
- Implied
- €2.68m / MW
- Announced
- 2011-09
- Closed
- 2011-11
- Project stage
- operational
DONG Energy (now Ørsted) sold 49.9% of the 172 MW Gunfleet Sands wind farm (GS1 + GS2) to Marubeni Corporation for GBP 200m. Converted at GBP/EUR 1.15 (Sep 2011) = EUR 230m. First Japanese investment in a UK offshore wind farm. Ørsted retained 50.1% and O&M.
Evidence
- Ørsted (DONG Energy) — Marubeni Corporation to become co-owner of Gunfleet Sands offshore wind farm ↗ 2011-09 ◆ held
From Hafrok’s transactions record
Secondary trade · 2013-12
Marubeni → Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) 24.95%
- Stake
- 24.95%
- Consideration
- not disclosed
- Announced
- 2013-12
- Project stage
- operational
Marubeni sold half of its 49.9% stake (24.95%) to Development Bank of Japan. Consideration not publicly disclosed. After deal: Ørsted 50.1%, Marubeni 24.95%, DBJ 24.95%.
Evidence
- Offshore Wind Biz — DBJ Acquires Stake in Gunfleet Sands OWFs ↗ 2013-12-27 ◆ held
From Hafrok’s transactions record
Secondary trade · 2018-12
Marubeni → JERA 24.95%
- Stake
- 24.95%
- Consideration
- not disclosed
- Announced
- 2018-12
- Project stage
- operational
JERA Co. (TEPCO/Chubu Electric JV) acquired Marubeni's remaining 24.95% stake. Consideration not publicly disclosed. After deal: Ørsted 50.1%, DBJ 24.95%, JERA 24.95%.
Evidence
- offshoreWIND.biz — JERA Acquires Part of Gunfleet Sands ↗ 2018-12 ◆ 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: 2010-Q2→2010-Q2 · 2 recorded revisions · held (announced 2010-Q2, unchanged)
Revenue & offtake the regime the project was built under
Offtake regime: ROC 1.5 ROCs/MWh (subsidy expiry 2029)
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 standing49≈48 turbines + 1 platform expected · every expected structure seen
Surveyed2026-09-01≈from 117 satellite passes
Built2008-Q3 → 2010-Q2offshore 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 ringed49 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
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 (49)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 · 1
Offshore substationGunfleet Sands Offshore Substation Platform (OSP)·owner TC Gunfleet Sands OFTO Ltd (Transmission Investment) holds the offshore transmission licence; the OSP was inside the proposed transfer perimeter. BUILT for and originally owned by DONG Energy A/S through three UK subsidiaries — Gunfleet Sands Limited, Gunfleet Grid Company Limited and Gunfleet Sands II Limited. Today the generation asset sits with JERA Nex bp (with Ørsted and Marubeni/DBJ interests in the ledger). The party named on the record today is not the builder.
Sources & verification
16/18 fields verified · rests on 13 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.
Regulator2
[1]
legislation.gov.uk2004-03-25◆ The Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm Or…
“The works which the undertaker is authorised to construct and maintain by article 3(1) are the following works on or near Gunfleet Sands, off the coast near Clacton-on-Sea, Essex: (a) up to 30 wind tu…”
supportsConsentConsent granted
[13]
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026-05-06◆ Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD…
“REPD Q1 2026 quarterly extract — Ref ID 2489: Site Name "Gunfleet Sands II", Development Status "Operational", Installed Capacity 64.8 MWelec, Operator "Orsted (formerly Dong Energy)"; Ref ID 2490: Si…”
supportsRegister entry
Operator4
[2]
Ørsted2019-05◆ 190514 Gunfleet Sands Web Aw
"The Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm is located approximately 7 km (4.3 miles) south-east of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. The project consists of three phases: Gunfleet Sands 1, with 30 3.6 MW turbines; G…
supportsCommercial operationCOD historyTurbinesUnit capacityTotal capacity+2 more
[11]
JERA2025
“Investors: JERA Nex bp, Ørsted A/S, Development Bank of Japan”
supportsoperatorowner
[14]
National Energy System Operator (NESO)2026-07-21◆ NESO Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) R…
“NESO TEC Register, edition 21 July 2026 - PRO-000224: "Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm", Status "Built", MW Connected 99.9, Effective From n/a, Customer "GUNFLEET SANDS LIMITED"; PRO-000229: "Gunfle…”
supportsRegister entry
[17]
Trade press7
[3]
[4]
[8]
Transmission Investment (TC Gunfleet Sands OFTO Ltd)
“Assets connect the 184MW Gunfleet Sands 1 and 2 offshore windfarms to the 132kV electricity distribution network at Clacton substation in Essex. Export cable voltage: 132 kV, offshore cable length: 9 …”
supportsStatusConnection point
[10]
Renewable Energy Magazine2013-09-16
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsTurbinesUnit capacity
[12]
[15]
Ørsted2025-Q2◆ Orsted — orsted factsheet asset book q2 …
“Gunfleet Sands 1&2 (48 x SWT-3.6-107) | JERA, Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) | 172.8 | 172.8 | 172.8 | Full | 1 | 0.501 | 2010 | ROC | 2029 | - | 1.5”
supportsMechanismDetail
[16]
Ørsted2025-03-31◆ Orsted — orsted factsheet asset book q1 …
“OFFSHORE - Asset Book updated as of 31 March 2025 ... Gunfleet Sands 1&2 (48 x SWT-3.6-107) | JERA, Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) | 172.8 | 172.8 | 172.8 | Full | 1 | 0.501 | 2010 | ROC | 2029 | - |…”
supportsTotal capacity