July 15, 2012
Isle of Man

Proposals submitted for giant wind farm off Isle of Man

The Telegraph | www.telegraph.co.uk 14 July 2012

Initial plans have been submitted for a huge wind farm with up to 440 turbines between Anglesey and the Isle of Man.

A joint venture between Centrica and a Danish energy company could see the country’s largest wind farm erected in the Irish Sea.

It would feature between 147 and 440 wind turbines, and generate up to 2.2 gigawatts.

Currently, the largest British wind farms boast about 100 turbines, with larger sites due to come on stream in the next few years.

Initial proposals for the Irish Sea site, involving Centrica and Dong Energy, have now been submitted to a government agency, National Infrastructure Planning, which oversees major electricity generating schemes.

But no planning applications have been submitted and no financial decisions have yet been made, according to BBC Wales.

It is one of about a dozen sites around the British coastline where offshore windfarms are currently being planned.

The development was first announced in January 2010.

It would be around 21 miles from the Isle of Man and 9 miles from Anglesey

Centrica said at the time that developing in the Irish Sea could dramatically increase renewable energy output, but offshore wind was expensive to build and would need a “long-term, stable support mechanism to make these investments commercially viable for the foreseeable future”.

There have been warnings that such a large windfarm could disrupt ferry routes between England and Ireland.

Last month, an Isle of Man travel watchdog criticised the planned development claiming it would lead to higher fares and onger journey times.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/07/15/proposals-submitted-for-giant-wind-farm-off-isle-of-man/