Marine works boosted by Autumn Statement
The UK Government has pledged support for developing five Centres for Offshore Renewable Engineering. Photo: Siemens
RenewableUK, the renewable energy trade association, has welcomed a series of Government announcements giving strong support to the renewables sector.
At a business conference in London, the Prime Minister David Cameron said, “I see offshore wind as a significant energy and industrial opportunity for the UK, and one that I am determined to seize. The Coalition Government strongly supports the growth of renewable energy to help diversify and decarbonise our long term energy mix”.
Mr Cameron urged investment funds, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds to join what he described as the UK’s renewable energy revolution by investing in large offshore wind projects. He assured delegates that “the UK will remain the world’s most attractive offshore wind market for many years to come, due to a world-leading marine engineering base”.
Mr Cameron’s words late last month followed the publication of the National Infrastructure Plan, unveiled by the Chancellor George Osborne in his Autumn Statement, in which the Government announced its commitment to developing five Centres for Offshore Renewable Engineering. These will provide support for businesses seeking to invest in manufacturing for the reneweables sector. They will be based in Humber, Tees, Tyne, Lowestoft/Great Yarmouth and Sheerness.
On the same day, Energy Minister Charles Hendry gave consent to DONG Energy to construct a new wind farm off the Yorkshire coast, creating 1,000 jobs during its construction. The 245MW offshore wind farm at Westermost Rough, to the North of the Humber Estuary, is expected to generate enough electricity to supply around 150,000 homes.
The National Infrastructure Plan also considers airport capacity and could boost the chances of the proposed Thames Hub airport being built in the River Thames estuary (see MJ November 2011, page 52). The new airport, which would be partially built on land created by capital dredging, would be part of a wider UK initiative to bring together rail, freight logistics, aviation, energy generation and transmission, flood protection and regional development in a comprehensive project which could cost £50bn.
Institution of Civil Engineers director general Tom Foulkes said, “The new infrastructure plan lays the foundations for a more structured approach to our infrastructure delivery. An approach that rightly sets out what the UK needs from its infrastructure, the interdependencies between the networks, a strategic and comprehensive ‘pipeline’ of projects and the need for a political heavyweight to really drive the most crucial ones forward.”
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