Latest News About England: Migrating birds halt expansion of London Array

miércoles, 19 de febrero de 2014

Migrating birds halt expansion of London Array

Offshore windfarm in Thames estuary to have reduced generating capacity as second phase of project is scrapped

Expansion plans at one of the world's largest offshore wind farms have come to a sudden halt, with the owners blaming environmental concerns over migrating birds for the interruption.

The London Array will not proceed to its planned second stage, meaning that the offshore wind farm will be about a third smaller than originally proposed. The wind farm will be about 630MW instead of the more than 1GW generating capacity which has been the target for more than five years.

The news is the latest in a series of blows to the UK's renewable industry, which include the decision by the German company RWE npower to drastically scale back its UK ambitions.

Mike O'Hare, general manager of the consortium behind the London Array, which is situated in the Thames estuary, said it would take until 2017 to get certainty on whether additional turbines at the farm would have an impact on the habitat of red-throated diver birds. That made the construction of additional turbines infeasible, the consortium decided.

He said: "In the absence of any certainty that phase two would be able to go ahead, our shareholders have decided to surrender the Crown Estate agreement for lease on the site, terminate the grid connection option and concentrate on other development projects in their individual portfolios."

Despite the setback, officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change insisted that the UK's offshore wind strategy was on track and that the number of turbines would increase from just over 1,000 today to as many as 3,000 by 2020. The UK is currently the world leader in offshore wind, but that is partly because few other countries have shown an interest in the technology, which is more expensive than onshore wind turbines.

O'Hare said: "Our shareholders remain committed to offshore wind in the UK, however the combination of environmental uncertainties, technical challenges and the option to develop other sites has resulted in their decision not to proceed with phase two."

The decision follows a recent setback to the project, whereby the main partner behind the consortium said it would sell half of its 50% share to another company. Dong Energy, from Denmark, said that it would sell 25% of the project to the Canadian company La Caisse De Depot Et Placement Du Quebec, for £644m.

In a sign of the growing uncertainty around wind energy in the UK, the chief of Iberdrola told the Financial Times that he was "shocked" by a letter sent by Ed Davey, the energy secretary, to the energy regulator Ofgem, in which he attacked the profits made by energy suppliers and suggested they could be broken up.

Ignacio Sanchez Galan, chairman and chief executive of the Spanish utility, which owns Scottish Power and has strong investments in renewable energy, said: "I was surprised that he would tell Ofgem what to do. It was interference in the work of an independent regulator."

Green campaigners said that renewable energy projects must go ahead, but in line with environmental aims.

Harry Huyton, head of energy policy at the RSPB conservation group, said: "Climate change is the biggest long term threat to wildlife and we need an urgent transition from fossil fuels to low carbon renewable energy. Wind power is a vital part of our renewable energy mix."

But he said that it was critical to avoid developments in sites that were "particularly special for nature" and that the Thames estuary was such a site.

Michael Fallon, the energy minister, said the UK was continuing to power ahead on offshore wind. "The UK is the world leader, with more deployed than any other country, and a framework in place to retain our global lead. The benefits that offshore wind can bring are clear: as costs fall it can enhance our long-term energy security, reduce our dependence on imports and help reduce our carbon emissions."

Decc estimates that offshore wind could generate 35,000 jobs by 2020, compared with nearly 7,000 jobs today.

Fiona Harvey