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<DIV itemprop="name headline "><FONT size=5><STRONG>Floating windfarms raise
hopes for a greener future</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV id=stand-first class=stand-first-alone itemprop="description"
data-component="Article:standfirst_cta">A green light for new floating platforms
off the Scottish coast should help lower the cost of a low-carbon economy</DIV>
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sizcache05085158166052296="4.0.279"><SPAN sizset="false"
sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.61" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope
itemprop="author"><SPAN sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.61"
itemprop="name"><A class=contributor
href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/terrymacalister" rel=author
itemprop="url"><FONT color=#000000>Terry Macalister</FONT></A></SPAN></SPAN> <A
href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/" itemprop="publisher"><FONT
color=#000000>The Observer</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV class="full-line facebook" sizset="false"
sizcache05085158166052296="4.0.279"><TIME itemprop="datePublished"
datetime="2013-11-24" pubdate>Sunday 24 November 2013</TIME> </DIV>
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sizcache05085158166052296="4.0.279"><A
href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/24/windfarms-float-on-sea-greener-future"><FONT
color=#000000>http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/24/windfarms-float-on-sea-greener-future</FONT></A></DIV>
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<DIV align=center itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" itemscope
itemprop="image"><IMG alt="Hywind floating turbine"
src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Money/Pix/pictures/2013/11/22/1385141278295/Hywind-floating-turbine-008.jpg"
width=460 height=276 itemprop="contentUrl representativeOfPage"
data-pin-description="The Hywind floating turbine off Norway's coast has been a testbed for the system."></DIV>
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<DIV class=caption align=center itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"
itemscope itemprop="caption"><FONT size=1>The Hywind floating turbine off
Norway's coast has been a testbed for the system.</FONT></DIV>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">A floating windfarm, which
ministers hope could hold the key to cutting the cost of renewable <A
title="More from the Guardian on Energy"
href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/energy"><FONT
color=#005689>energy</FONT></A>, has been given the go-ahead by the Crown
Estate. The Buchan Deep project will see five turbines with a combined power of
30 megawatts installed by the Norwegian oil company Statoil off the coast of
Aberdeenshire in 100 metres of water.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">Approval comes as rising
fuel bills and a wavering political commitment to developing a low-carbon
economy is leading some energy companies to consider cutting back on offshore
wind.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.65">Energy and climate change
minister <A title="More from the Guardian on Michael Fallon"
href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/michael-fallon"><FONT
color=#005689>Michael Fallon</FONT></A> said putting turbines on floating
platforms rather than concrete bases in the seabed "underlines the dynamism of
the sector". The scheme follows a trend set in the North Sea oil and gas
business, where floating production platforms drastically reduced the cost of
hydrocarbons and made it possible to move into deeper waters.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">The wind industry has set
itself a target of cutting its costs by 30% and the Buchan Deep scheme is
pencilled in as a major contributor if the trials go well. The Crown Estate,
which manages most of the seabed around the UK, says it worked with Statoil for
more than two years before approving the project.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">"Investing in new
technologies will be crucial to unlocking offshore wind potential over the long
term while we focus on the current development pipeline," said Huub den Rooijen,
head of offshore wind at the Crown Estate.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">Fallon said: "This
innovative project will lead to the construction of the first floating offshore
windfarms in the UK. This underlines the UK's attractiveness as the number one
destination for offshore wind development."</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">Statoil, which makes the
bulk of its earnings from selling oil and gas, has been experimenting with one
floating turbine, the Hywind, off the coast of Norway since 2009. The Scottish
project allows the company to test the system as an "array", or farm, to see how
it will work with half a dozen turbines operating simultaneously in close
proximity. Statoil has not given a final investment approval to the Buchan Deep
scheme but called the go-ahead from the Crown Estate a significant milestone
towards getting a floating farm up and running.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.66">"We look forward to a
progressed dialogue with key stakeholders in <A
title="More from the Guardian on Scotland"
href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/scotland"><FONT
color=#005689>Scotland</FONT></A>, including communities, the local supply chain
and the authorities," said Siri Espedal Kindem, Statoil's senior vice-president
for <A title="More from the Guardian on Renewable energy"
href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/renewableenergy"><FONT
color=#005689>renewable energy</FONT></A>. "We will continue to mature the
Hywind pilot towards a final investment decision, by conducting marine surveys
and concept studies in order to demonstrate technical and commercial
feasibility."</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">The need for cheaper
solutions comes as the government's climate change adviser warned that offshore
windfarms may not be built unless subsidies are increased by the government.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.68">The committee on climate
change wrote to <A title="More from the Guardian on Ed Davey"
href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/ed-davey"><FONT color=#005689>Ed
Davey</FONT></A>, the energy and climate change secretary, in September saying
that "required investment" was at risk unless further financial support was
provided. A group of industry developers have made the same point to
government.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">But ministers believe it is
up to industry to find ways of reducing the costs of offshore wind, and in late
June unveiled proposed reductions in subsidy levels for the rest of the
decade.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">Den Rooijen, a former Shell
oil executive, is optimistic that costs can be cut and that the sector will
continue to grow, but admits that the UK is likely to see a retrenchment from
the estimated 40,000MW (40 gigawatts) of projects that some originally believed
could be possible.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">"The full 40GW is not all
going to be developed – certainly not over the near to medium term – and the
consequence of that is [that] it is really important that the industry carries
forward the best projects in the pipeline," he said.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">Increased knowledge about
seabed and weather conditions for foundations and cable costs allowed project
developers to select which schemes to take forward and which not, he said.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">Last month, offshore wind
provided 5% of national electricity consumption from around 24 farms producing
3.6GW. There is now, in total, more than 5GW – enough to power 4m homes – in
operation or under construction, at an estimated cost close to £15bn.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">The industry grew by 80% as
four very large offshore projects became operational during the last 18 months:
Greater Gabbard, Gunfleet Sands III, Sheringham Shoal and the London Array off
the coast of Kent, currently the biggest offshore windfarm in the world,
generating 630MW of power.</P>
<P sizset="false" sizcache05085158166052296="1.0.64">Maria McCaffery, chief
executive of trade body RenewableUK, stressed this month that the sector was
providing jobs as well as low-carbon energy security: "Tens of thousands more
will be joining the industry over the rest of this decade as we build out the
rest of the projects in the pipeline – as long as government policy is
supportive and provides the right framework for one of this country's greatest
modern industrial and environmental success stories to reach its full
potential."</P></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>