Dong plays £10m local hero

Dong Energy is setting up a £10m fund to help local community projects on the UK east coast over the next 20 years.

The Danish company said the East Coast Community Fund is being set up to ensure local people benefit from the 580MW Race Bank and 1.2GW Hornsea 1 offshore wind farms, which are both under construction.

It will distribute approximately £500,000 a year to help local initiatives for each of the next 20 years.

The fund will be managed and administered by an independent grant-making charity, which Dong said will be appointed shortly.

“One of their early tasks will be to launch a public consultation on how and where the funds can be distributed most effectively,” the company said.

Race Bank is being built off the north Norfolk coast.

Construction of the onshore substations and installation of around12km of onshore cable has been ongoing since last year.

Work on two export cables is due to start in early May.

Hornsea 1 is being built about 75 miles off the Yorkshire coast and is due to be fully operational in 2020.

Dong Energy UK country chairman Brent Cheshire said: “We believe local people should get a chance to benefit from the construction and operation of offshore wind farms.

“Although our wind farms are located offshore, their transmission connections require onshore facilities and our construction and operations bases are very much a part of local communities.

“This fund is a practical way in which we can say thank you for the fantastic support we get.”

Image: a met mast at the Hornsea zone (Mainstream)