Where are offshore windfarms and where will they be?
The Competition.
The Greater Wash, which includes the Norfolk/Suffolk area, has
been targeted as the major development area for UK offshore wind
farms following Round
Two proposals. This puts Norfolk/Suffolk in prime position to
lead the way in the UK offshore wind farm industry.
The Greater Wash area is expected to produce 1,600MW from 854 wind
turbines by 2010 and 5,000MW from 2,667 wind turbines by 2020. Over
half of the wind turbines will be outside of territorial waters,
that is, more than 12 nautical miles off the coast.
This is significantly more turbines than is planned for the other
strategic development areas of Northwest England and the Thames
Estuary. This is because the region has the least number of constraints.
This confirms the status of Norfolk/Suffolk as the potential UK
offshore wind energy leader.Beyond the offshore wind farm plans
of Round Two
no further wind farm developments are proposed.
The main competitor for the region, and the whole of the UK, is
Europe where the wind turbine manufacturers are based. Europe is
better equipped for the offshore wind farm industry as it has been
developed there for longer than in the UK. There is a fear that
manufacturing and installation contracts may go to European, as
opposed to UK, companies. For example, Rotterdam is the nearest
most suitable port to the Greater Wash area from which to float
wind turbines out to their sites.
Lowestoft and Greater Yarmouth are not equipped to cope with the
proposed capacity. In order to prevent the UK and the region losing
out on job creation and investment to foreign competition the government
must be prepared to invest in the infrastructure, such as the Outer
Great Yarmouth Harbour, needed to support the industry. This
will attract turbine manufacturers.
Setting targets is simply not enough, investment in a manufacturing
base and the supporting infrastructure is a must. |