Traffic management

Last November Vattenfall bought the Thanet Wind Farm project and now the visible construction work begins. When complete in 2010 the wind farm will generate enough clean energy for 240,000 homes and Thanet will boast the largest wind farm in the world.

On 6th February the installation of the onshore cables along the A256 will start. This is one of the first exciting steps towards receiving energy from the offshore turbines. There were trials of the traffic management scheme on the A256 last year.

Work carried out 24 hours a day over weekends

After consultation with Kent Highway Services, Thanet District Council and Dover District Council it was decided that it would be best for the work to be carried out 24 hours a day over weekends only. It will begin at 19:00 (7:00pm) on Friday evenings with each section of work being completed by 06:00 (6:00am) on Monday mornings. The work will begin near the former Richborough Power Station and finish at Pegwell Bay in November. During this time one lane of the A256 will stay open and manually operated traffic lights will be in operation.

Benefits to the local area

This is an exciting development for the local area. Vattenfall is the fifth largest energy producer in Europe and one of the biggest wind power operators in Britain. The total investment for completing the wind farm is in the order of £780 million. The local economy will enjoy a boost from the visiting construction workers, locally based jobs will be created and a new operations and maintenance centre will be built in Ramsgate.

Vattenfall apologises for any inconvenience the road works may cause. This website will give information about the wind farm and include regular updates on the progress of its construction. Information for the local road users will also be included.