New plan to put wind turbines out at sea

Jun 5 2008 by William Green, The Journal

Campaigners hail a change of tack

CAMPAIGNERS fighting onshore wind turbines have welcomed proposals to expand offshore sites and hope it will ease demands on the countryside.

The Crown Estate, which owns the seabed around Britain, has earmarked 11 potential offshore wind farm areas and will work with developers to push forward schemes.

Dominic Coupe, who is fighting a scheme at Middlemoor, North Charlton, near Alnwick, said it was a “lot more sensible” to put wind farms offshore.

“It occurs to us that they are less likely to be objected to by people on the basis they are at sea and therefore not detracting from valuable landscape,” he said.

Mr Coupe added it was logical for developers to build offshore wind farms if the process became easier.

A spokesman for the Moorsyde wind farm action group said: “We would rather see offshore than onshore. Wind resource tends to be better and they have less impact on population.”

Berwick MP Alan Beith said offshore locations might not raise the same problems as sites on the Northumberland landscape – but warned the fishing industry might have concerns.

Greenpeace’s head of the climate campaign Robin Oakley said: “Britain is sitting on a treasure chest of green collar jobs and clean, renewable energy – now we need to unlock it.”

But he blasted the Government’s “fantasy” over nuclear power and refusal to introduce economically beneficial policies as seen in Germany and Spain, which led the world in renewable energy.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds welcomed the proposals, but warned developers should ensure “more haste does not mean less wildlife”.

Maria McCaffery, British Wind Energy Association chief executive, said it was “fantastic news” and would help meet a target of the UK sharing a European Union goal to source 20% of all supplies from renewables by 2020.

The Crown Estate is investing directly in offshore wind development for the first time, but will not own or operate them.

“We need to be sensitive to other marine users and conservation interests, and we have to deliver all this in the context of worldwide competition and a limited supply of new wind turbines,” said a spokesman.

County faces a buffeting as the demands grow

NORTHUMBERLAND could become a wind power "factory" it was yesterday claimed after a senior minister said renewable energy production must expand.

Top Berwick Tory Anne-Marie Trevelyan issued the warning after Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said a "step change" in renewable energy production was needed and amid fears more onshore wind turbines could be approved under a planning shake-up.

The European Commission says the UK should produce 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 as part of a European Union 20% target. The Journal also this week revealed that major wind farm plans and "clusters" of proposals could be decided by an unelected quango under planning changes.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Wicks said the Government was committed to meeting the "challenging" target that could cost £5bn a year by 2020. "Achieving the UK target will require a step change increase in the proportion of our energy coming from renewable energy sources over the next 12 years – almost, in fact, a 10-fold increase," he said.

Tory spokesman Charles Hendry said most of that rise would have to come from wind power with other technologies not yet sufficiently developed.

"Marine technology will make a massive contribution in years to come but we cannot realistically expect it to do so by 2020," he said.

Mr Hendry said British companies were leading the world but warned offshore wind plants required investment similar to that in North Sea oil. The Government was not "remotely on course" to achieve more renewable energy production, said Mr Hendry.

Mrs Trevelyan, Berwick Tory Parliamentary candidate, said: "Northumberland is at risk as a wind factory location for this if the Government was to push to reach the targets through wind energy."

She said other technology was available and welcomed Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s "sensible" support for new nuclear power.