North East energy businesses should set their sights offshore

Mar 19 2008 By The Journal

BLYTH is now officially at the very cutting edge of wind energy now that wind energy giant Clipper Windpower is setting up activities in Blyth.

David Still, Clipper Windpower Europe managing director, is working closely with NaREC in Blyth to finalise planning efforts for the Offshore Centre of Excellence which is to commission Project Britannia, a wind turbine development effort established to design a 7.5 MW wind turbine for offshore deployment.

In addition to being the world’s largest wind turbine, the 7.5 MW MBE (million barrel equivalent), will, in its lifetime, generate the electricity equivalent of one million barrels of oil, taking the offshore wind industry to a new level in generating capability.

A single Britannia turbine could potentially provide for the electricity needs of more than 5,500 homes and offset more than 28m kilogrammes of carbon dioxide each year.

Developing this new technology in Blyth will add to the region’s existing reputation as a pioneer of renewable energy technology development and is only the beginning for the North East’s involvement in the future of offshore wind.

Offshore wind is increasingly becoming a favoured option for the growth of the renewable industry in the UK, and is expected to make a major contribution towards meeting the Government’s energy targets, which now require the UK to generate 15% of its power from renewables by 2020.

In electricity terms, this could mean that as much as 40% of our electricity will come from wind, as opposed to the current 5% share it takes. Much of this is expected to be delivered from offshore wind energy, since the wind resource at sea is extremely large, winds at sea are highly productive and larger wind turbines, such as the 7.5 MW MBE will deliver reliable power at reasonable cost.

According to the British Wind Energy Association wind turbines installed at sea around Britain’s coasts could potentially increase from just under 150 turbines currently in place, to around 7,500.

Given our existing highly skilled offshore workforce and experience in large scale heavy engineering and fabrication, the North East is well placed to provide the engineering, manufacturing and R&D services that the UK will require to achieve this offshore wind revolution. It is anticipated that Clipper’s development of the new Britannia prototype turbine could be the beginning of a new direction for the North East’s manufacturing industry – as the UK moves to embrace offshore wind technology.

NaREC’s Wind Division will be providing engineering and testing support to Clipper as it develops its prototype, using NaREC’s wind turbine blade testing facility.

Stephen Wilson, director of wind and marine at NaREC, said, “This is a very exciting time for us. NaREC is attracting interest from all parts of the globe as technology developers look to develop their new energy solutions, and Clipper’s new activities in Blyth will serve to boost the North East’s and our own, reputation for energy technology development.”

David Still, managing director of Clipper Windpower Europe, said: “We are very pleased to be working with NaREC in this exciting and far sighted project to develop the world’s largest offshore wind turbine. Our facilities in Blyth are located to well serve the offshore turbine development zones and their related load centres.”