Tim Webb
A planned expansion of the world’s largest wind farm has been abandoned because of the impact on the local population of red-throated divers.
The developers behind the £1.9 billion London Array had intended to add 100 turbines to the 175 already fixed to the seabed off the Kent coast.
The expanded wind farm would have been able to provide power for about 750,0000 homes. However, the consortium — Denmark’s Dong Energy, E.ON of Germany and Abu Dhabi’s Masdar — said that a study to prove that the expansion would not damage the protected birds’ habitat would take at least three years.
The consortium said that it was unable to guarantee that the impact would be acceptable to planning authorities and would cancel the proposed second phase.
It is at least the sixth offshore wind farm project to be abandoned or scaled back in the past three months as developers struggle with rising costs and falling subsidies.
Mike O’Hare, general manager for the project, said: “Phase 2 has always been subject to a condition requiring London Array to demonstrate that any change caused by the additional turbines to the habitat of the red-throated divers would not compromise its status as a designated environmental Special Protection Area.
“Although initial findings from the existing Phase 1 site look positive, there is no guarantee that we will be able to satisfy the authorities that any impact on the birds would be acceptable.”
The company said that the second phase was more “technically challenging” because the turbines would have been farther out to sea and in deeper water.
Red-throated divers, which are mainly concentrated around the north coast of Scotland and the Shetland isles, spend the winter in the Thames estuary. They are on the RSPB’s amber list for bird species at risk.
Marine life has a history of killing off offshore wind projects. In December, the presence of basking sharks was one of the factors behind Scottish Power pulling the plug on its £5.4 billion Argyll Array project in Scotland.
Centrica ditched its Docking Shoal project in 2012 because inspectors ruled that it would kill too many sandwich terns, another protected species.
Despite the complications presented by marine life, economics remain the biggest challenge for large offshore wind farms.
The Government has offered subsidies, which are funded by levies on consumer bills, worth about three times the current cost of electricity for the first projects, but these payouts will gradually fall.
Developers argue that this is not enough for the most difficult projects, and many are struggling to raise capital for the projects.
Yesterday, the consortium behind one of the next-generation wind farm projects, Dogger Bank, off the Yorkshire coast, cut its size by 20 per cent.
RenewableUK, the industry body, put a brave face on the Dogger Bank and London Array announcements.
Nick Medic, director of offshore renewables, said: “What we’re seeing now is a leaner, fitter, trimmer offshore wind sector with more streamlined projects.”
RWE npower said last November that it was scrapping its £4 billion Atlantic Array project in the Bristol Channel, arguing that it was not economically viable.
Centrica sold its unbuilt Race Bank project in December after failing to secure subsidies from the Government.
Corridor of power
• The London Array wind farm is located 12 miles from the Kent and Essex coasts in the outer Thames Estuary
• It covers about 100 sq kilometres and the turbines stand in waters up to 25 metres deep
• The 175 turbines are 482ft tall and spaced about 1 kilometre apart
• They are connected to an onshore substation via nearly 450 kilometres of cabling
• The project can provide enough power for nearly 500,000 homes, or about two thirds of households in Kent
3 Comments