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UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
Offshore wind industry moves up a gear
Britain’s offshore wind industry is entering an expansion phase, with two east coast projects, totalling 1.6 GW of generating capacity, taking steps towards completion.
First, the developers of Dudgeon offshore wind farm off East Anglia, Statoil and Statkraft, have made a ‘final investment decision’ (FID) to press ahead and build the 67-turbine, 402 MW project. Based off the coast of north Norfolk in water depths of 18–25 m, the wind farm is expected to support up to 450 jobs and bring hundreds of millions of pounds of investment into the UK’s economy.
Dudgeon is the first out of eight renewable electricity projects that signed an investment contract with the government to announce its FID.
The wind farm could create opportunities for manufacturers across the UK. Earlier this year, Siemens announced that it is to invest £310mn to build two offshore wind manufacturing plants in Hull. The developers hope that many of the turbines at Dudgeon will come from these factories.
Meanwhile, the East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm has today been given consent from the government to go ahead. The proposed 240-turbine, 1,200 MW project could be one of the largest wind farms in the world. The joint venture between ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall has the capacity to bring an estimated £500mn to the region’s economy during the lifetime of the project.
The Chief Executive of Britain’s wind and marine energy trade association, RenewableUK, Maria McCaffery said: ‘Today’s news marks the start of what is set to be one of the world’s major green energy infrastructure developments. East Anglia ONE is the first of six projects within the same zone with a combined capacity of up to 7.2 GW, which is enough to power more than 4.6mn British homes.’
Following a final investment decision, construction work could begin on East Anglia ONE in 2017, with generation starting in 2019.
News Item details
Journal title: Energy World
Keywords: Wind Energy - Offshore wind farms
Countries: UK -
Organisation: RenewableUK
Subjects: Offshore wind power, Wind farms, Jobs, Offshore wind farms
