UK Crown Estate Offers Round 1,2 Offshore Wind Project Extensions
29 July 2009 - 9:31AM
Dow Jones News
The U.K.'s Crown Estate said it was offering interested parties
the opportunity to apply for area extensions on Round One and Round
Two offshore wind projects in a bid to quickly increase the U.K's
renewable power generation capacity and maintain a steady flow of
offshore construction activity.
The Crown Estate, which owns the seabed and parts of the
foreshore around the U.K.'s coastline, said the extensions are
intended to provide the U.K. with extra wind power generation
capacity within a short period of time and ensure a stable flow of
construction projects until Round Three construction activity
kicks-in.
The Crown Estate in March received multiple bids for each of the
nine zones offered in the Round Three offshore wind licensing to
develop up to 25 gigawatts of wind power.
Round One, launched in 2000, now has seven offshore wind farms
in full operation and four that are currently under construction. A
competitive tender process for Round Two sites was launched in
2003. The 15 successful projects amount to 7.2 gigawatts.
The area extensions proposed Tuesday dovetail with the estate's
July decision to extend both Round One and Round Two leases to 50
years.
Project developers that have Round One or Two projects in
operation or under construction, consented and awaiting
construction or currently awaiting determination of statutory
consents, will be allowed to apply for area extensions. Interested
parties must notify the Crown Estate of their interest by the end
of Sept. 9, 2009, the Crown Estate said.
Project developers that might be eligible for extensions would
include Scottish and Southern Energy PLC's (SSE.LN) Airtricity,
which developed the 500-megawatt Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm
with engineering company Fluor Corp (FLR) during the second round
of licensing.
Rob Hastings, director of marine estates at Crown Estate said:
"Site extensions for Round One and Two provide a unique opportunity
to build on the strengths of the U.K. offshore wind industry. In
the years leading up to construction of the larger Round Three
projects, the extension of existing sites will provide the offshore
wind supply chain with further confidence in a pipeline of
construction projects.
-By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9328;
alex.macdonald@dowjones.com