Friday 8 January 2010

Offshore Wind Farms Will Secure Scotland's Energy Independence

Crown Estate has announced details of its offshore wind development partners and this New Year 2010 has received the biggest sustainable economic development signals for Scotland in fifty years.

The Moray Firth and Inchcape offshore wind farms will secure Scottish electricity independence. The Beauly to Denny power line will help carry clean energy to markets in Scotland and beyond. New jobs and new prospects for the north and east of Scotland will help transform our fortunes and energise the nation. All efforts to build infrastructure support including the liberation of the Nigg fabrication yard for renewable production is even more urgent.

One of the projects included in today's announcement - a 1.3GW windfarm in the Moray Firth - will be taken forward by partners Edp Renováveis and SeaEnergy Renewables (pictured) group who I had the pleasure of meeting last March following Parliament's debate on the National Planning Framework 2.


A cross-party meeting with them following the debate allowed me a chance to hear more about their ambitions and they had this to say following today's announcement:

António Mexia, Chairman of Edp Renováveis said: “Offshore wind energy is one of the biggest sources of renewable energy on the planet and still largely unexplored. The UK Round 3 is the biggest tender for renewables ever and marks the definitive commitment of the UK to an energy source that is not only clean but also economically viable. It is, therefore, with great pleasure that EDP Renováveis, as one on the most important wind energy companies in the world, will lead the development of the Moray Firth wind farm with our partners SeaEnergy. This new project fits perfectly into EDPR's portfolio adding geographical and technological diversification in one of the lowest risk and most business friendly nations in the world.”

Steve Remp, Chairman of SeaEnergy PLC said: “We are absolutely delighted that SeaEnergy have been awarded this zone in UK Round 3. This is a true testament to the reputation and expertise of our team who are very excited about working with our partners EDPR to develop this zone. The UK Round 3 awards mark a new dawn for Britain’s offshore wind potential, and coupled with our existing projects in Scotland and Taiwan we are very excited to be at the heart of it.”

Congratulations to the 9 successful projects and especially to SeaEnergy Renewables and their partners - it is exciting to see these developments moving forward.

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