Norway's Statoil, Statkraft in $2.4 billion wind farm project off British coast

Norwegian energy companies Statoil and Statkraft have announced plans to build a wind farm off the British coast in a 15 billion kroner ($2.4 billion) investment, expected to be completed in 2017.

Statoil, the operator of the Dudgeon offshore project, says construction of the 67 turbines will begin in 2016. With a total generation capacity of 402 MW, they will provide energy for some 410,000 households.

British energy minister Michael Fallon welcomed the project, saying Britain had already "attracted 34 billion pounds of private sector investment in renewable electricity since 2010."

Statoil, with 21,000 employees and operations in 36 countries, is a major producer of oil and gas in the North Sea. Statkraft is a renewable energy company that has been active in Britain since 2003.