West of Duddon Sands wind farm starts generating power
A wind farm which could eventually become one of the largest in Britain has started generating electricity.
The West of Duddon Sands development, eight miles off Cumbria's coast, will have 108 turbines.
About a third are built and four are ready for use. When fully operational the site could generate up to 389 MW, powering 280,000 homes.
The wind farm is the fourth to be built off Barrow and could create up to 60 jobs.
The development is being built by Scottish Power Renewables and Danish firm, Dong Energy.
Benj Sykes, from Dong Energy, said it was "committed" to bringing down the cost of wind energy.
"[It] is a big challenge, it's 35-40% of costs coming out of electricity from offshore wind farms," he said.
"We believe, as the technology matures and the supply chain grows, we can drive the cost down very significantly."
It has been estimated offshore wind brings in £1m a month to the local economy.