Utility Majors in Offshore Manoeuvres

The Centrica project will see up to 30 turbines built off Walney Island near Barrow in Cumbria in a joint venture with two state-owned Scandinavian power groups. Centrica has joined a partnership with the Danish energy group DONG and Norwegian power company Statkraft to build the wind farm after jointly buying Barrow Offshore Wind, which owns development rights to the site.

The British Government will provide a £10m capital grant for the project, with the three partner companies paying the rest in proportion to their holdings in Barrow Offshore Wind.

Construction is expected to begin in 2004 or 2005, with the fully operational 90MW wind farm expected to produce 6% of Centrica’s renewable energy obligation by 2010. Centrica subsidiary British Gas has agreed to take all the electricity produced.

Powergen Renewables has acquired the rights to develop the £200m Robin Rigg wind farm in the Solway Firth by buying the share capital of the two project companies, Solway Offshore and Offshore Energy Resource, along with the development rights.

All were owned by investment company Babcock & Brown.

The Robin Rigg project already has consent from the Scottish Executive and the Department of Trade and Industry. The Government has awarded £9m in capital grants to the scheme, which is not expected to start construction until 2005. When completed, its 60 turbines will meet the annual electricity needs of 140,000 homes.

Robin Rigg joins Powergen Renewables’ portfolio of 16 UK wind farms, including the Scroby Sands project 3 km off the coast of Great Yarmouth, where work has recently begun. Large cylindrical frames have arrived, shipped by sea from Scotland.

They will form ladders which will be placed round the foundations when they arrive from the Cambrain Engineering plant on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. These 50m long foundation structures are 4.2m in diameter and made of 50mm thick rolled steel. They will be hammered into place and topped with 60m high turbine towers carrying blades 39m long. When the 38 turbines begin generating power in September 2004, Scroby Sands will be the second largest operational wind farm in Europe, providing sufficient power for 50,000 homes.

MJ Information No: 18724