Vattenfall Seeks Permission For Aberdeen Offshore Wind Project

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Planning permission is being sought for the construction of Europe's largest offshore wind testing centre off the coast of Aberdeen in Scotland.

Sweden's Vattenfall AB (Stockholm, Sweden), Technip SA (EPA:TEC) (Paris, France) and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG) have submitted their consent application for an offshore facility designed to allow turbine manufacturers to test next-generation wind turbines in a real-world environment. The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), off Aberdeen Bay, will be designed to cater for up to 11 turbines ranging in generation capacity from 4 megawatts (MW) to 10 MW. The centre will also allow for the testing of novel foundations, cables and new grid connection technologies. When operational in 2013-14, the project will also deliver up to half of Aberdeen's electricity needs.

"We believe we have made a good case for the development, which places Aberdeen at the heart of the development of new technologies to serve the growing European offshore wind sector," argued David Hodkinson, U.K. country manager of Vattenfall. "We would build the project with the same attention to detail in respect of environmental and community considerations as we have for our previous developments".

The project, which last year received the green light from The Crown Estate as an offshore wind demonstration site, has been in the pipeline for more than six years. In December, the project also received a grant worth up to €40 million ($57.5 million) from the European Union (E.U.).

The project has lot of support from energy groups and the Scottish government but may still face an uphill struggle in the shape of U.S. billionaire Donald Trump. The business tycoon has determined that the project will be an eyesore for golfers at his planned hotel, golf and housing development on the nearby Menie Estate. The Trump group stated: "Our position has not changed from five years ago. We are opposed to the siting of this wind farm and will fight the proposal on every possible front."

Morag McCorkindale, chief operating officer at AREG, commented: "As Europe's energy capital, Aberdeen city and shire is the ideal location for the EOWDC. The region has an offshore oil and gas supply chain unrivalled in the eastern Hemisphere and therefore has the highest concentration of energy expertise, experience, skills and technology. This industrial-scale know-how is crucial to the development of marine renewables, and in the short-term particularly, offshore wind."

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