The offshore wind giant said it will invest in and build the £1.3 billion Rampion windfarm with help of £236 million funding from the GIB, which will retain a share in the project.
Eon has already completed the construction of seven offshore wind farms totaling 1.2GW and has another 507MW under construction, making it the third largest developer in the world.
Eon chief executive Tony Cocker said that its latest investment decision in the “strategically important” project could be the largest capital infrastructure project in the UK this year. It is the first to be built in the South of England will also be the first to move ahead under the third planning round.
New energy secretary Amber Rudd said: “This huge investment is a vote of confidence in the UK, creating local jobs, bringing business opportunities and providing clean, home-grown energy.
“The UK is the best place in the world to invest in offshore wind, thanks to the certainty the government is able to provide to attract private finance in partnership with the Green Investment Bank,” she added.
For the GIB Rampion represents its seventh investment in the UK’s offshore wind sector, which will bring the total capacity it has helped to fund to more than 2.5GW.
GIB chief executive Shaun Kingsbury said its backing “gives the developer the confidence” to push forward with the project, “boosting UK energy supply and generating enough power annually for around three hundred thousand homes”, he added.
Just last month the financial services arm of the GIB closed on the world’s first offshore wind fund, designed to bring forward investors in UK projects.