News

Wind projects given thumbs up

Two new wind farms with a combined capacity of over 1GW have been given the go ahead by the government today. DECC says that this brings the total capacity of offshore wind either operational, under construction or given consent up to 6.6GW.

Race Bank (580mw) and Dudgeon (560MW) located in the Greater Wash could power up to 730,000 homes with clean electricity at an estimated cost of £3bn. A third application at Docking Shoal was refused, however, due to the potential impact on seabirds.

Energy minster Charles Hendry said: “The UK is racing ahead of the global field and these two new offshore wind farms underline this momentum.

“These two projects will not only bring us considerable amounts of clean energy, but significant investment and jobs too.

“We have also shown that we are mindful of other consequences, such as the impact on bird populations, in deciding that it would not be appropriate to consent all three applications.”