EON's Round 3 Offshore Windfarm Advances

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- German energy major, E.ON AG (PINK:EONGY) (Dusseldorf, Germany), is advancing plans for its first Round 3 offshore windfarm in the U.K. by choosing Newhaven Port as its base of operations and maintenance.

The decision is an important step for the project, which is one of the country's large Round 3 series of windfarm projects, granted a lease by The Crown Estate. Round 3 projects alone could see the addition of more than 25,000-megawatts (MW) of renewable electricity, which could meet a quarter of the U.K.'s electricity demand by 2020.

Shoreham Ports narrowly lost out to Newhaven Port after a 'rigorous technical assessment', E.ON said. The deal, if the windfarm gets the green light, will see the creation of up to 85 permanent jobs and would require part of Newhaven Port being modernised and redeveloped to support office space, equipment storage and vessel mooring for windfarm construction and ongoing maintenance.

The proposed Rampion offshore wind farm, which would be located 13 kilometres (Km) off the Sussex coast at its nearest point, will feature between 100 and 195 turbines depending on the model used. This will give the project a generating capacity of up 700 MW, which E.ON estimated is enough to power approximately 450,000 homes.

"We're extremely pleased to be able to announce that we'll be partnering with Newhaven Port if the Rampion project gets the go ahead," explained Chris Tomlinson, E.ON Development Manager for the project. "It's an ideal location to support the windfarm due to its proximity and accessibility to site, and the amount of space available."

Captain François Jean, Port Manager, Newhaven Port & Properties, added: "This decision will kick start our plans for the regeneration of Newhaven Port and begin a new era for our wider plans to create a hub of clean, green power generation."

The news arrives a month after planning permission was sought for the first Round 3 offshore windfarm. Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd (MORL), which is 75% owned by EDP Renovaveis (Lisbon, Portugal) and 25% owned by SeaEnergy Renewables (Westhill, Scotland), announced that it has submitted an application for three proposed windfarms in the Moray Firth which will have a combined generating capacity of approximately 1,500 MW. For additional information see September 10, 2012 article - First 'Round 3' Offshore Project Seeks Planning in U.K..

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