Solway could be windfarms future site
A windfarm nearly twice as powerful as Robin Rigg could be built on the Solway Firth.
Energy giants E.ON UK — who are behind the multi-million pound Robin Rigg project — were awarded an exclusivity agreement by the Crown Estate this week to allow them to investigate the site.
It was one of ten awarded to various companies allowing them to explore offshore sites around Scotland.
The Scottish Government will now be conducting a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for offshore windfarms and the Crown Estate will only allow construction to begin once the government has granted statutory consents and permissions.
It is thought the new windfarm would go alongside Robin Rigg and E.ON spokesperson Andrew Barrow told the ‘News’ that they would draw on the experience gained building that site for the new project.
Rescue operations have twice had to be launched due to problems on the 180 megawatt, 60 turbine site.
Mr Barrow said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be given preferred status. We’re big players in renewable energy and we want to be even bigger.
“The lessons we have learned from building Robin Rigg will stand us in good stead should this one be confirmed as a goer.
“It will have a similar production time table, the geography will be similar and it’s a good place to build a windfarm.
“This new one will be up to 324 megawatts which is nearly twice as powerful as Robin Rigg, although that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be twice the size as the turbines would be different.
“This could supply 195,000 homes and displace over 300 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
“It’s a good project for both Scotland and the UK.”
Jason Ormiston, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, described the announcement of the agreements as an “exciting phase” and added: “The combined capacity of these projects will make a massive contribution to Scotland’s efforts in tackling climate change, helping to deliver reliable and affordable supplies of electricity to consumers and, very importantly, the Scottish economy.
“Now the industry, government, the Crown Estate, Ofgem and the wide range of interests which use the sea must work together to deliver this exciting potential.”
However, Aedán Smith, head of planning with RSPB Scotland, sounded a note of caution: “Poorly sited developments could harm seabird populations through collision or disturbance, but we’re confident that Scotland can meet its renewable energy targets several times over without putting wildlife at risk. Good quality survey work will need to be carried out to assess sites prior to development and we will scrutinise each site in detail before deciding our position.”
By Stuart Gillespie
19 February 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
Some possibly related stories:
The copyright of this article is owned by the author or publisher indicated. Its availability here constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law as well as in similar "fair dealing" exceptions of the copyright laws of other nations, as part of National Wind Watch's effort to advance understanding of the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development. For more information, click here.
