Tricky going to plan in UK
Sep 2 2009 by Kelley Price, Evening Gazette
A WIND farm developer claims the local planning process is responsible for a predicted huge shortfall in the North East’s 2010 onshore renewables targets.
Banks Developments made the comments as it submitted an application to build a £30m windfarm at Barmpton, three miles to the east of the A1 near Darlington.
The ten turbine Moor House scheme will produce enough electricity to power one in three homes in the town.
It will add 25 megawatts to the Tees Valley’s 2010 target if it goes ahead but, according to the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), the North-east is due to fall massively short of that ambition with little hope of catching up.
So far the region has generated just 175MW of the 454MW target for 2010.
Bosses at Banks agreed with the BWEA that the closure of Vestas, a turbine manufacturing plant on the Isle of Wight last month, was of little surprise as the UK’s turbine manufacturing market was currently too small to sustain even one factory long-term.
Banks, which has five years of successful renewables projects to its name, said onshore wind planning processes did not give the industry enough certainty to grow.
“It’s well recognised, certainly within Europe, that the UK is one of the most difficult places to get planning for wind farms because of the timeframe and uncertainty in the decision making process,” said business development manager Rob Williams.
“There are opportunities in the North-east, but the time taken to bring these plans to fruition is always a problem because of the planning system in which we all have to operate.
“We appreciate the difficulties and complexities in bringing large and potentially controversial projects to a successful conclusion. Such delays were quoted by Vestas - its closure is a huge disappointment for the industry.”
The North-east, he added, was fortunate in having US company Clipper Wind based here, which would help bring manufacturing for offshore wind to the area.
Public consultations for Moor House will take place at Sadberge Village Hall on September 14 and Harrowgate Club and Institute on September 15.
