The Dogger Bank offshore wind project
proposed for a semi-remote site in the North Sea cleared a major hurdle
this week, bringing it one step closer to becoming the world’s largest
offshore wind farm. On Tuesday, the United Kingdom’s Crown Estate,
a quasi-public entity that manages the UK seabed, granted the Forewind
consortium a consent to begin the next phase of development of the
behemoth Dogger Bank offshore wind project.
The Dogger Bank Creyke Beck would be the world’s largest offshore
wind project in the world with 400 turbines and a total installed
capacity of up to 2.4 gigawatts (GW). The proposed site for the project
is located in the North Sea about 80 miles off the east coast of
Yorkshire. It would cover an area spanning about 430 square miles.
“This is an awesome project,” said Nick Medic, RenewableUK’s
Director of Offshore Renewables. “It will surely be considered as one
of the most significant infrastructure projects ever undertaken by the
wind industry.”
The Forewind consortium,
which is owned equally by the international energy companies RWE, SSE,
Statkraft and Statoil, began developing the Dogger Bank project four
years ago. The consortium burned through the better part of $100 million
on surveys, assessments, consultations and other planning processes
required for the consent approval granted this week.
Dogger Bank Creyke Beck is part of the Dogger Bank Zone, the largest
of the Round 3 zones but one of the shallowest, with high wind speeds
and seabed conditions ideally suited to offshore wind development. It is the first consent granted for the Dogger Bank Zone. The Dogger
Bank Zone spans an area of about 3343 square miles and has an estimated
generating potential of 7.2 GW. It is the furthest offshore wind project from UK shores, while remaining in shallow waters of approximately 30 meters.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2015/02/21/worlds-would-be-largest-offshore-wind-farm-takes-another-forward/?ss=energy
No comments:
Post a Comment