UK Parcels Out Coastal Zones to Jumpstart £75B Offshore Wind Industry
The UK government’s Crown Estate on Friday parceled out rights to develop 32-GW worth of offshore wind energy in nine coastal zones. The announcement was part of the government’s ambitious plans to develop a £75 billion offshore wind industry by 2020.
The Round 3 initiative adds to 8 GW of previously granted rights. The nine sites are mostly cited in the North Sea on the UK’s east coast. Some 4 GW of offshore and onshore wind power are already in operation in the UK, while 1.7 GW is under construction.
The government claimed on Friday that 32 GW, based on an average load factor of 35%, would mean an extra 6,400 turbines—likely larger, more efficient turbines that are capable of generating 5 MW of power.
The expansion was feasible because the UK has one of the best wind energy resources in Europe, said Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband. “We now need to make sure we’re poised to harness the potential that appetite brings for business for UK companies and new green jobs. We did it before with oil and gas in the North Sea and we’ll do it again for offshore wind.”
The biggest chunk—a 9 GW zone, 100 kilometers (km) off the English coast—was awarded to a consortium of Norwegian companies Statoil and Statkraft, RWE nPower, and SSE Renewables. Spain’s Iberdrola subsidiary Scottish Power and Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall won the 7.2 GW zone.
- Dogger Bank Zone (9 GW): the Forewind Consortium (equally owned by each of SSE Renewables, RWE Npower Renewables, Statoil and Statkraft).
- Norfolk Bank Zone (7.2 GW): East Anglia Offshore Wind Ltd. (equally owned by Scottish Power Renewables and Vattenfall Vindkraft).
- Irish Sea Zone (4.2 GW): Centrica Renewable Energy and involving RES Group
- Hornsea Zone (4 GW): Siemens Project Ventures and Mainstream Renewable Power (a consortium equally owned by Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens Project Ventures and involving Hochtief Construction).
- Firth of Forth Zone (3.5 GW): SeaGreen Wind Energy Ltd. (equally owned by SSE Renewables and Fluor).
- Moray Firth Zone (1.3 GW): Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd. (owned 75% by EDP Renovaveis and 25% by SeaEnergy Renewables).
- Bristol Channel Zone (1.5 GW): RWE Npower Renewables
- West of Isle of Wight Zone (0.9 GW): Eneco New Energy
- Hastings Zone (0.6 GW): E.ON Climate and Renewables UK.
The government on Friday also awarded £3 million of grants to support the offshore wind supply chain. These included funding to Burntisland Fabrications Ltd (£1.5 million) to set up a manufacturing facility at the Energy Park in Fife, Scotland, to make offshore turbine parts, and to Tees Alliance Group Ltd (£1.5 million), for a production facility in Teeside. These awards follow a £15 million grant for a blade testing facility at the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC).
The UK government’s offshore wind announcement follows months of concerns voiced by industry analysts and academics that the country could face shortages because almost a quarter of its 80-GW capacity is aged and will likely be retired by 2016. Another 15 GE is either closed or restricted under European Union plant emission regulations.
The government’s expansion plans aren’t unique in Europe; the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) last year increased its 2020 target to 230 GW of installed wind power capacity —including 40 GW that would be offshore wind.
Source: DECC, POWERnews, POWER