The 108 MW Gunfleet Sands 1 wind farm gained planning consent in 2003/4; in 2006 DONG Energy (now Ørsted) acquired the project and submitted an application for a second 64 MW windfarm Gunfleet Sands 2 adjacent to the first, which received consent in 2008.

[1] The turbines connect to a 33 kV offshore substation, which steps up the transmission voltage to 132 kV; the export cable makes landfall at Holland Haven (next to Holland-on-Sea), and underground cables connect it to the National Grid at the Cooks Green substation.

[10] The application for Gunfleet Sands 2 rested with decision maker the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in June 2007,[11] who gave its permission the next year.

[18] Construction of the wind farm was delayed, due to cable layer Oceanteam going into administration in May 2009 and the breakdown of liftboat KS Titan 2.

[28] The transmission assets were divested in July 2011 to TC Gunfleet Sands OFTO Limited due to regulatory change.

The project consisted of a wind farm about 1 km2 (0.39 sq mi) 8.5 km southeast of Clacton.

[35] The monopile foundations and transition pieces were supplied by Bladt Industries and installed by Ballast Nedam in 2012.

[40] The facility was officially opened on 12 September 2013 by UK Energy Minister Greg Barker.