Wind farm future in doubt
The future of a major offshore wind farm in north Norfolk is under threat after the company behind it admitted it needed a new investor.
After hearing the news, one of the county’s MPs called on the government to take urgent action to ensure the Sheringham Shoal project, and others like it around the country, did not fail.
Scira, originally set up by joint investors StatoilHydro and Evelop, had hoped to begin constructing the 88-turbine farm in 2009 and have the project up and running by 2011.
A spokesman for the company confirmed it was looking for a new investor and admitted the credit crunch was proving an obstacle to that — meaning it could not commit to the future of the project.
Sue Vincent, Scira’s communications manager, she said: “The credit crunch has made finding a partner more challenging but we will find a partner.
“We are still working on it. It’s hard to say how the project will be taken further. There is a small question mark, but it is a question mark.”
She confirmed original joint investor Evelop was “no longer a partner” but denied reports the Dutch company had pulled out because it could not raise its share of the £750m needed to fund the project.
The spokesman said: “In 2005 we agreed that [StatoilHydro] could have a right to buy their 50pc stake. We just exercised that right. It was a mutual agreement.
“It was absolutely nothing to do with their financial position. We decided we wanted to look for an industrial partner.”
Scira, now entirely owned by Norway-based StatoilHydro, insisted the wind farm remained a sound investment which it hoped would help it attract a new partner.
Last night Norman Lamb, north Norfolk MP, said he was concerned to hear of this setback. He said: “It is worrying, disturbing news. It’s yet another impact of the global financial crisis.’
He said he did not believe this would be a unique situation and called on the government to take action to protect the country’s wind farm programme.
He said: “It is too early to judge whether there are specific measures the government can take, but they have got to make an assessment of the situation pretty quickly and take what steps are necessary to ensure that this investment programme does take place.”
Renewable energy has been flagged up by the government as a key factor in its bid to lower the UK’s carbon emissions and ease our reliance on finite supplies of fossil fuels.
The Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm was given the go-ahead by the government in August this year.
If built, it would consist of about 88 turbines between 17km and 23km from the Sheringham coast creating enough energy to power almost 220,000 homes and would have a lifespan of 40 years.
17 November 2008
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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