Ørsted’s Barrow Offshore Wind Farm completes 20 years of commercial renewable electricity generation in the UK
Ørsted’s Barrow Offshore Wind Farm turned 20 this year — a milestone that traces back to 2006, when 30 turbines began spinning in the East Irish Sea, 4.3 miles south-west of Walney Island. With a combined capacity of 90 MW, Barrow was among the UK’s first commercial offshore wind farms and marked the start of what was then DONG Energy’s presence in British waters.
Two decades on, what began as an early test of offshore wind’s viability has become a reference point for an industry now woven into the UK’s energy system.
Barrow Offshore Wind Farm turns 20
Barrow started commercial operation in 2006 as a joint venture between Centrica and DONG Energy — the company that would later become Ørsted. Each of its 30 turbines carries a 3 MW capacity, putting total installed output at 90 MW. In 2014, DONG Energy bought out Centrica’s remaining 50% stake and became sole owner. Ørsted has held 100% ever since.
The sector employs more than 40,000 people across the country and has attracted tens of billions of dollars in cumulative investment, both private and public.
For Ørsted, Barrow isn’t just another asset. It was the company’s first UK offshore wind project — the foothold from which a much larger British operation would grow. Twenty years later, that foothold has expanded into a portfolio spanning 12 offshore wind farms along the UK coastline.
How Barrow helped establish offshore wind in the UK
When Barrow came online in 2006, offshore wind was still an emerging technology with limited commercial deployment. Proven templates for building and running turbines in open sea conditions over the long term were scarce. Projects like Barrow were, in effect, learning exercises — necessary steps toward showing the technology could work at scale.
The wind farm helped establish Ørsted’s UK presence and signaled a long-term commitment to British waters. Over the years, the company’s West Coast hub in Barrow-in-Furness grew into a recognized center of excellence for offshore wind operations, with its workforce drawn predominantly from the local area — giving the surrounding community a direct stake in the industry’s development.
The knowledge built at Barrow didn’t stay local. Skills and expertise developed there have been shared across Ørsted’s global portfolio, with colleagues traveling to Barrow specifically to learn from two decades of hands-on operational experience. As Godson Njoku, Chief Generation Officer at Ørsted, put it: “Many of the skills and expertise developed here in Barrow have gone on to support offshore wind projects in the UK and around the world.”
Two decades of output and industry growth
The numbers behind Ørsted’s UK operation tell a clear story about how far offshore wind has come. Across all of its UK wind farms over the past 20 years, Ørsted has produced more than 180 TWh of electricity — enough, the company says, to power the entire London Underground network for almost 150 years.
The broader industry has grown right alongside it. Offshore wind now generates 18% of the UK’s electricity in 2025, a share that was negligible when Barrow first came online. The sector employs more than 40,000 people across the country and has attracted tens of billions of dollars in cumulative investment, both private and public.
Ørsted’s own UK footprint reflects that expansion. The company now operates 12 offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 5.7 GW — a portfolio that includes Hornsea 2, which Ørsted describes as the world’s largest offshore wind farm. A long way from the 90 MW project that started it all in the East Irish Sea.
Context: The UK’s offshore wind expansion since 2006
In 2006, offshore wind was a calculated bet on an unproven technology. The UK had abundant wind resources and a coastline suited to development, but commercial-scale offshore generation was still in its infancy. Barrow was part of the pioneering cohort that helped demonstrate what was possible.
Its 20-year operational lifespan also carries a practical message for the industry: offshore wind assets can generate reliably over long periods. That’s not a trivial point. One of the early uncertainties around offshore wind concerned durability — whether turbines could withstand marine conditions consistently across decades. Barrow’s track record offers a concrete answer.
The UK government continues to treat offshore wind as a core pillar of its energy transition strategy, with successive rounds of contracts for difference auctions designed to bring new capacity online. The infrastructure, skills, and institutional knowledge built up around projects like Barrow form part of the foundation that future development will rely on. Richard Bodal Hanson, UK Country Manager at Ørsted, noted that Barrow’s legacy “is about much more than the 30 turbines offshore. It’s about the knowledge, skills, and confidence that have been built here over two decades.”
What Barrow’s milestone means for UK offshore wind
Barrow Offshore Wind Farm is now entering its third decade of operation — still a working power station, still producing renewable electricity from the same East Irish Sea location where it started in 2006. At 90 MW, it’s modest by today’s standards, but its role in the industry’s development is disproportionate to its size.
The farm served as Ørsted‘s entry point into the UK market and a proof of concept for long-term generation from turbines at sea. Expertise built there has since fed into projects across the UK and internationally. The community in Barrow-in-Furness, meanwhile, has developed a genuine industrial identity around offshore wind — one that the company says it intends to build on as the UK’s next generation of projects takes shape.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
