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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The United Kingdom has confirmed its position as the leading proponent of offshore wind energy as the sector celebrates passing the 1-gigawatt (GW) mark for installed offshore windfarms.
The recent commissioning of new offshore facilities has helped push the U.K.'s offshore generation capacity to 1,041 megawatts (MW). This is spread across 11 operating offshore windfarms, with a total of 336 installed wind turbines. The country has the most ambitious offshore wind-energy plans in the world, which include 40 GW of offshore windfarms in various stages of development and more than 4 GW that are under construction or have obtained planning consent.
Last week, E.ON UK (Coventry, England), part of German power company E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY) (Dusseldorf, Germany), turned on the 180-megawatt (MW) Robin Rigg offshore windfarm in the Solway Firth, off the west coast of Scotland. For additional information, see related April 18, 2010, article - E.ON Switches on Robin Rigg Offshore Windfarm.
Commenting on the news that the 1-GW barrier had been passed, Michael Lewis, European Renewables Managing Director at E.ON, said: "Meeting the 1-GW offshore wind milestone is testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire industry. Offshore wind is a challenging environment in which to work, but the potential benefits it brings through the generation of clean renewable energy can be clearly seen. We're incredibly proud that our own site, Robin Rigg, has helped the U.K. to meet this high point and are looking forward to building even bigger schemes like the London Array in the coming years."
In recent weeks, Dong Energy (Copenhagen, Denmark) completed work on its 173-MW Gunfleet Sands offshore windfarm, which comprises 48 Siemens Energy (Erlangen, Germany) wind turbines rated at 3.6 MW each.
"The U.K. offshore wind industry has come of age," explained Maria McCaffery, the chief executive of wind industry body RenewableUK (London, England). "In the last 10 years, we have built a brand-new, world-leading industry sector that will create long-term value for this country. In the first quarter of this year alone, half a billion pounds of private investment has been invested directly into offshore wind in the U.K. The opportunity now for this country is to build on this position of global leadership to develop the industrial and service supply chain to provide the equipment and skills that will embed Britain's competitive advantage in marine renewables."
Ed Miliband, secretary of state at the Department of Energy Climate Change, said: "It is great news that we've reached the 1-GW landmark. The U.K. is now the world-leader in offshore wind energy generation. We are also set to be a centre of manufacturing for offshore wind."
In related news, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) (Brussels, Belgium) has released a report that claims the U.K. has one of the fastest planning processes for wind energy projects. The EWEA maintained that it takes about 27 months to get planning consent for an onshore windfarm in the U.K., the eighth-fastest time in Europe. This compares to a European average of 42 months, according to the report. Leading the way is Finland, with slightly more than eight months needed to get permission to build a windfarm, followed by Austria (10 months), Romania (15 months) and Italy (18 months). The slowest country for wind energy development is Portugal, where more than 58 months are needed on average to get permission for windfarm development. This is followed closely by Spain (57 months), Greece (50 months) and Poland (43 months).
IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the Wind Energy, Geothermal, Hydroelectric, Landfill Gas-to-Energy and Utility-Scale Solar power plants throughout North America, and is now expanding coverage across the world.
"If Europe is serious about reaching 20% renewables by 2020, some member states need to streamline their consent procedures for windfarms," Justin Wilkes, EWEA Policy Director, said. "There are a number of actions all member states could take: creating a one-stop shop approach for contacting the different authorities, writing clear guidelines for developers, and introducing better and streamlined spatial planning procedures. Implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive provides a real opportunity for targeted action in certain E.U. countries."
View Plant Profile - 1055708
View Project Report - 78000428
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
The recent commissioning of new offshore facilities has helped push the U.K.'s offshore generation capacity to 1,041 megawatts (MW). This is spread across 11 operating offshore windfarms, with a total of 336 installed wind turbines. The country has the most ambitious offshore wind-energy plans in the world, which include 40 GW of offshore windfarms in various stages of development and more than 4 GW that are under construction or have obtained planning consent.
Last week, E.ON UK (Coventry, England), part of German power company E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY) (Dusseldorf, Germany), turned on the 180-megawatt (MW) Robin Rigg offshore windfarm in the Solway Firth, off the west coast of Scotland. For additional information, see related April 18, 2010, article - E.ON Switches on Robin Rigg Offshore Windfarm.
Commenting on the news that the 1-GW barrier had been passed, Michael Lewis, European Renewables Managing Director at E.ON, said: "Meeting the 1-GW offshore wind milestone is testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire industry. Offshore wind is a challenging environment in which to work, but the potential benefits it brings through the generation of clean renewable energy can be clearly seen. We're incredibly proud that our own site, Robin Rigg, has helped the U.K. to meet this high point and are looking forward to building even bigger schemes like the London Array in the coming years."
In recent weeks, Dong Energy (Copenhagen, Denmark) completed work on its 173-MW Gunfleet Sands offshore windfarm, which comprises 48 Siemens Energy (Erlangen, Germany) wind turbines rated at 3.6 MW each.
"The U.K. offshore wind industry has come of age," explained Maria McCaffery, the chief executive of wind industry body RenewableUK (London, England). "In the last 10 years, we have built a brand-new, world-leading industry sector that will create long-term value for this country. In the first quarter of this year alone, half a billion pounds of private investment has been invested directly into offshore wind in the U.K. The opportunity now for this country is to build on this position of global leadership to develop the industrial and service supply chain to provide the equipment and skills that will embed Britain's competitive advantage in marine renewables."
Ed Miliband, secretary of state at the Department of Energy Climate Change, said: "It is great news that we've reached the 1-GW landmark. The U.K. is now the world-leader in offshore wind energy generation. We are also set to be a centre of manufacturing for offshore wind."
In related news, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) (Brussels, Belgium) has released a report that claims the U.K. has one of the fastest planning processes for wind energy projects. The EWEA maintained that it takes about 27 months to get planning consent for an onshore windfarm in the U.K., the eighth-fastest time in Europe. This compares to a European average of 42 months, according to the report. Leading the way is Finland, with slightly more than eight months needed to get permission to build a windfarm, followed by Austria (10 months), Romania (15 months) and Italy (18 months). The slowest country for wind energy development is Portugal, where more than 58 months are needed on average to get permission for windfarm development. This is followed closely by Spain (57 months), Greece (50 months) and Poland (43 months).
IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the Wind Energy, Geothermal, Hydroelectric, Landfill Gas-to-Energy and Utility-Scale Solar power plants throughout North America, and is now expanding coverage across the world.
"If Europe is serious about reaching 20% renewables by 2020, some member states need to streamline their consent procedures for windfarms," Justin Wilkes, EWEA Policy Director, said. "There are a number of actions all member states could take: creating a one-stop shop approach for contacting the different authorities, writing clear guidelines for developers, and introducing better and streamlined spatial planning procedures. Implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive provides a real opportunity for targeted action in certain E.U. countries."
View Plant Profile - 1055708
View Project Report - 78000428
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
