WIND OFF SCOTLAND ON

Green giants herald power revolution
Jeremy Watson, 15 February 2009 (The Scotsman)

"…The Crown Estate, which owns the seabed out to the 12-mile British territorial limit, will tomorrow award "exclusivity agreements" to a range of power companies to develop 10 offshore wind farm sites.

"The sites will be split evenly between the west and east coasts. Those in the west are expected to be in the relatively sheltered Irish Sea and Solway Firth areas off the south-west coast. In the east, they are likely to stretch in a line from Wick in the north to the Berwickshire coast in the south…they are forecast to produce 6.4 gigawatts of power, more than doubling the amount of electricity produced by renewable forms of energy in Scotland…"

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"The companies involved are understood to be some of Britain and Europe's biggest utility companies, which are likely to form consortia to exploit offshore wind power. They include Scottish and Southern, ScottishPower, Centrica, Swedish-owned Vattenfall, Germany's E.on, France's EDF, Danish company DONG, Npower and Ramco…

"The rising value of the euro means construction projects in the UK are now far cheaper than was previously the case for international consortia."

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"The wind farms will use undersea cables to transport their power ashore and connect to the national grid…[The] agreements are designed to allow developers to begin initial surveys and consultations on the sites, while the Scottish Government conducts an assessment of the environmental implications…The emphasis on generating wind power is now switching offshore because of the difficulties of getting onshore wind farms through the planning process…

"The new generation of offshore farms will be sited several miles out to sea, ending most objections about visual intrusion in rural areas, although developers will have to overcome concerns about wildlife movements and incursions on airport flight paths.

"As the seabed owner, the Crown Estate will earn up to 2% of the value of the electricity generated, providing a lucrative annual windfall for the Treasury…"