Hybrid energy consent in East Irish Sea
Low-carbon energy company Eclipse Energy UK has been granted government consent to enlarge its previously consented Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm and to generate and export electricity from the adjacent Ormonde Gas Fields development. This completes the series of principal permissions necessary to construct the worlds first co-development of offshore gas and wind energy, in the East Irish Sea.
The consent permits Ormonde Energy Limited to build a 150MW wind farm comprising 30 turbines, which will be sited 9.5 km from Walney Island. This consent replaces the previous one granted in February 2007.
Eclipse Energy UK accepted a cash offer for the entire share capital of Eclipse UK plc last month from Vattenfall AB, which valued the company at £51.5m. The wholly government owned Swedish power company views the UK as a suitable target market for its future renewable energy growth.
When constructed, Ormonde will have the ability to provide up to 150MW of electricity from its dedicated offshore wind farm of 30 5MW turbines and during periods of light wind the three gas turbines fuelled from two adjacent natural gas fields will generate a total of 90MW of electricty.
The subsea electricity export cable will cross Morecambe Bay with a landfall at Heysham. The Ormonde Project will be able to supply the equivalent of half of Cumbria’s domestic load, generating enough electricity to power over 111,000 homes. The project anticipates first energy in 2011.
The project will use existing power generation and North Sea oil and gas technology and will be capable of flexible and reliable low-carbon power generation. It is a sustainable concept with in-built options for future reuse of the facilities, for further development of offshore renewable energy technologies and potential redevelopment of the sub-surface reservoirs for gas storage. Such activities would be dependent on further permissions being obtained.
Commenting on the grant of consent, Ian Hatton, chief executive officer of Eclipse Energy said, ‘Just a month ago Secretary of State John Hutton highlighted the important role for offshore wind in the UK energy supply mix and his desire to see larger capacity turbines installed to improve the efficiency of offshore developments.
This now fully enables Eclipse to move ahead with the process to construct the first commercial scale 5MW turbine based offshore wind farm on the UK Continental Shelf.
‘In terms of generation capacity and project footprint, Ormonde will be the most efficient wind development on the planet and will in itself represent a major milestone in the development of world offshore wind resources.’
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