DONG Energy has acquired full control of the Round Three Hornsea Zone, one of the world's biggest offshore wind development zones.

The Round Three Hornsea Zone has the potential to supply the electricity needs of almost three million UK homes.

The Hornsea Zone is located between 31 and 190 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast and covers more than 4,000 square kilometres.

DONG Energy has acquired the project rights for Projects Two and Three, which have a combined potential for development of around 3GW of capacity. These projects are expected to form an important part of the business's post-2020 pipeline.

In February 2015, DONG Energy acquired the 1,200 megawatt (MW) Hornsea Project One for which it has secured a Final Investment Decision enabling contract (Contract For Difference).

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Brent Cheshire, DONG Energy's UK Country Chairman, said: "The Hornsea Zone provides us with new and exciting development opportunities, not least because of the sheer size of the projects in terms of acreage and their high generation potential. This will also help us in our committed efforts to reduce the cost of electricity from offshore wind.

"With this acquisition we have the scope for continuing our growth within offshore wind and maintaining our position as global leader in this field beyond 2020."

The company has invested approximately £6bn in the UK, most of it in offshore wind farm development.

Huub den Rooijen, Head of Offshore Wind at The Crown Estate, which manages the UK seabed, added: "We welcome today's announcement that the Hornsea Zone will be taken forward by DONG Energy, who have a proven track record in developing and delivering offshore wind projects.

"We look forward to working with DONG Energy as they build upon the hard work already undertaken by the SMartwind consortium to unlock the significant potential of this area of seabed for low carbon energy."

(LM)