| Gael force blowing as Airtricity
secures deals  By
Niamh Hennessy
A JOINT venture involving Irish wind power group Airtricity has won approval
to build an offshore wind park off the Suffolk coast at a cost of up to
£1.2billion.
The licence for the development was granted last week by the British Trade
and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling to Airtricity and its partner, Fluor
Corporation.
It is the second major project announced by Airtricity in as many days,
as it emerged the group is behind a massive new 4,200MW (megawatt) wind
power development to be built in Texas.
This latest project will be built by a joint venture firm called Greater
Gabbard Offshore Winds Ltd and will involve a 500MW facility located 25
kilometres (16 miles) off the eastern coast of England.
Greater Gabbard was one of three second-round awards announced the others
are for a 1,000MW facility called London Array and a 300MW development at
a location called Thanet, while a further 12 projects totalling 6,200MW
are at various stages of development.
Greater Gabbard will consist of 140 turbines generating 500MW of power.
Located 23km (12 miles) from the Suffolk coast, it lies close to two shallow
sandbanks the Inner Gabbard and the Galloper.
Developed by Airtricity and Fluor, the sites will occupy an area of nearly
150 square kilometres within the outer Thames Estuary strategic wind farm
area, known to be one of the windiest regions in Britain.
Commenting on the project, Airtricity chief executive Eddie O’Connor
said: “When the wind blows, free generation replaces generation that
costs.
“Greater Gabbard will save money as well as contributing to the amount
of electricity generated from emissions-free sources.”
Construction of the project, which will provide enough electricity for about
415,000 homes, is expected to begin in 2009.
Airtricity also said that it plans to build a ground-breaking electricity
transmission system in the Texas Panhandle Plains region of the United States.
The Panhandle Loop will be an 800-mile transmission project allowing Airtricity
to bring 4,200MW of wind energy to Texas enough to supply over 1million
homes with energy.
Joining Airtricity to build the loop is Babcock & Brown Renewable.
The loop will result in the investment of over $10billion in new generating
capacity, including 2,000MW of gas-fired power and 1,800MW of coal-fired
power.
|
