Windmills
with wet feet
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Blyth
turbines |
On
12 March 2003, Warwick
Energy received consent to go ahead with the construction and
operation of a wind farm off Walney Island.
Construction
is nearing completion in April 2006.
In
summary
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More
than 7 Km from Walney Island
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The
wind farm will commence operation autumn 2006.
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30
turbines, expected to generate up to 108 MWe.
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On
average, enough
electricity for 87,000 homes.
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Consent
for construction and operation received March
2003.
And
how will they look?
Using
computers we can estimate the way the windfarm may
look from the shore. The closest turbine will
be more than 7 km offshore. On bright and
clear days they will be visible; on murky days you
may not see them at all. The
southern tip of Walney Island will be the nearest
land to the proposed wind farm. This shows how
they may look from there.
Local Benefits
By the end of 2004, the Walney Wind
Farm would provide enough electricity for all the
homes in Barrow, Dalton, Ulverston,
Grange-over-Sands, Kendal, Morecambe and Heysham and
all the coastal settlements in between. All
the homes in the eco-footie can be powered by the
wind farm on the second toe nail. Based on
87,000 average homes, and estimates of wind speed
which take account of the fact that the wind
doesn’t always blow.
It is expected that this wind farm will make a significant contribution towards
the UK's target of producing 10% of its electricity
needs from renewable energy by 2010, and could take some pressure away from
more sensitive landscape areas onshore. 
Is
this a step in the right direction?
This wind farm has such a large potential to
generate power because the wind strengths are
greater offshore and because these are very big
turbines.
It
is hoped that the construction and maintenance of
the wind farm will create over 50 jobs, and that project will act as a catalyst to
attract a new manufacturing facility to the area
with the scope for the turbines, towers and
foundations to be made locally.
A
local maintenance facility will also be needed
during the 20 year operational life of the wind
farm, creating up to 16 full time jobs.
Tourist attraction?
Other
onshore and offshore developments have attracted
visitors to the area to view the wind turbines.
It may seem surprising, but it could
certainly contribute to the local economy.
Construction issues
A foundation 6m in diameter and 65m long is driven into the
seabed. The
platform, mast and blades are erected from a jack-up
barge or specialist vessel.
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Construction
at Blyth |
The structure will be a matt colour chosen to lessen the
visual impact. A yellow band is painted up to 12m
above the water line for shipping.
The
cable carrying the power to shore will be buried to
a minimum of 2m to avoid it being snagged by fishing
gear or causing a hazard.
This cable will come ashore and
connect to the electrical network at Heysham.
Site issues
The
average water depth of the site is 20m. The
total seabed area taken up by the turbine
foundations is less than ¼ the size of a football
pitch in an overall site area of 10 km2.
These are BIG turbines
Some
of us may be familiar with local onshore wind farms.
This proposal is for much bigger turbines. The
proposal is for turbines with a mast height of 75
metres and 50 metre blades. Compare this with
the turbines at Lambrigg near junction 37 of the M6
where the mast height is 43 metres and the blades
are 30 metres. However, as these are out at sea
only a few people will ever see them up close.
Size Matters
Wind
turbines are becoming larger and more efficient all
the time. As they do so, they make a more
significant contribution to the green energy
production.
The
turbines at Lambrigg (near junction 37 on the M6)
were the most powerful in the UK when they came on
stream in November 2000. However, each of the
turbines at Walney will have an output almost 3
times as great as the Lambrigg turbines. 
Predictions
of giant turbines with blades 125m across, each
producing 10Mwe are probably far away.
Certainly we might expect them to be sited far
offshore.
Renewables – the 10% target
The
government has set a target of generating 10% of
electricity from renewable sources by 2010.
Currently we generate far less – less than 3%.
One way to move towards 10% is to develop offshore
wind farms. The alternative is that future
generation plans continue to focus on just coal, gas
and nuclear options.
Wind
power, like nuclear power, does not create large
amounts of greenhouse gases or acid rain gases,
which are produced when coal or oil are burnt.
When compared to a conventional coal fired power
station, the emissions saving from the Walney
proposal are 325,000 tones of CO2, 3,800 tonnes of
SO2 and 1,000 tonnes of NOX each year.
Consultation
Process
Independent
experts have carried out an assessment of the
potential impact on the local environment.
Copies of the environmental impact statement
are available at all main
council offices and local libraries.
Fashion Statement?
For information contact:
Other Proposals
Offshore
wind turbines have been proposed elsewhere near
Morecambe Bay. The most advanced proposal is the one
described here.
This is the Warwick Energy proposal for a
30-turbine wind farm off Walney Island
A
consortium of Shell Renewables, CeltPower and Elsam
are looking into the potential of a 90-turbine wind
farm off the coast of Blackpool.
Eclipse
Energy are in the early stages of a proposal for
combined gas and wind power generation off the coast
of Barrow. Their
plan is to create power from the sub-surface gas
field when the wind speed drops.
Check www.seapower-generation.co.uk and
www.seapower-generation.co.uk/eis.htm
Baywind
Energy Co-operative is a forward looking
company encouraging community owned wind
farms.
Check
www.baywind.co.uk
Wind
parks off other shores
www.offshorewindfarms.co.uk
www.britishwindenergy.co.uk
Scrosby
Sands, Norfolk is the first of 18 new wind farm licences to have
been given the go-ahead.
The proposal is for 38 turbines of 2 Mwe, 3
km off the Great Yarmouth coast.
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Blyth
sunny day |
Blyth
off the NE coast of England is the first and still
the only place in the UK where offshore wind
turbines are producing green energy.
www.blyth-offshore.co.uk
Arklow
Bank, Ireland.
In January 2002, the go-ahead was given for
construction to begin on a 200 turbine site that
could eventually provide 10% of Ireland's
electricity.
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