That's It: The UKs's Oldest Offshore Wind Farm Retires

At first, the sight is likely to be unfamiliar to the local residents: Since 2000, two wind turbines have been standing in the waters off the Northumberland coast. Now the operator E.ON has announced the end of the two offshore pioneers.

"Wind farms typically have a lifespan of around 20-25 years, and so Blyth Offshore Wind Farm has reached the end of its time. I think we can all be proud of the role it’s played in the renewable energy industry, and its legacy for the port and waters around Blyth," says Patrick Rainey, Patrick Rainey, Offshore Technical Specialist at E.ON, looking a little wistfully at the two turbines.

In operation, the two 2 MW turbines generated enough electricity to power over 2,000 homes and saved 4,520 tons of carbon dioxide each year as it entered the atmosphere. The first British offshore wind farm was built in 2000 by a consortium led by E.ON and will be closed in April. The work is expected to take four to six weeks.

Since the wind farm was built one kilometer off the coast, the Blyth area has become a valuable test area for the construction, operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms and today a hub for innovation and development at sea.

"Blyth Offshore Wind Farm holds a special significance for us all at E.ON as our – and the UK’s - first offshore development. Through Blyth, we were able to demonstrate to the watching world that the technology worked, and we’ve been able to use our experience and learning to go on to develop a further 1.5GW of wind capacity off the UK coast," Rainey said.

One of the turbines will now be recycled and reused for spare parts within E.ON's onshore fleet and the other will be used for training purposes by the port of Blyth.