Floating turbines bid to buoy output

Ahead of an international “clean energy” meeting, the Government says it will work with the United States to develop wind technology to generate power in waters currently off-limits to conventional turbines.

The UK’s wind resource is said to account for around a third of Europe’s offshore wind potential, but new technology is needed to open up waters of between 60 and 100 metres in depth: Too deep for turbines fixed to the seabed but where wind speeds are consistently higher.

It is hoped developing the technology will increase the UK’s potential for offshore wind power, particularly beyond 2020 when shallower sites have been developed.

Several vast offshore wind farms are planned off the Yorkshire coast, creating tens of thousands of jobs across the region.

According to one estimate, the project at Dogger Bank, a large sandbank around 60 miles off the Yorkshire coast, will on its own produce three times much electricity as Drax at Selby – the UK’s largest power station.

However costs for offshore wind – and the need for back-up from traditional power stations when the wind does not blow strongly enough – have come in for criticism. One study calculated offshore wind cost 90 per cent more than fossil fuel generators and 50 per cent more than nuclear.

But the Government believes new technology could reduce costs by cutting the expense of seabed foundations and allowing repairs on floating wind platforms to be carried out in port rather than at sea.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey, who is co-chairing this week’s Clean Energy Ministerial with US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, said: “Britain has more wind turbines installed around its shores than any other country in the world and our market is rated year after year as the most attractive market among investors.

“Offshore wind is critical for the UK’s energy future and there is big interest around the world in what we’re doing.

“Floating wind turbines will allow us to exploit more of the our wind resource, potentially more cheaply.

“Turbines will be able to locate in ever-deeper waters where the wind is stronger but without the expense of foundations down to the seabed or having to undertake major repairs out at sea.

“The UK and US are both making funding available for this technology and we’re determined to work together to capitalise on this shared intent.”

The Energy Technologies Institute is commissioning a £25m offshore wind floating system demonstrator which will require the chosen participants to produce an offshore wind turbine which can generate up to 5 megawatts (MW) to 7MW by 2016. The project could be demonstrated off the Cornish coast.

In the US, four offshore projects are being backed by the Department of Energy.

A poll has revealed a large majority of people backed a drive for more renewables.

The YouGov survey of more than 2,800 people revealed that 85 per cent supported calls on the Government to introduce laws to make energy companies cut their use of foreign fossil fuels and increase wind, wave, solar, hydro and tidal sources of electricity.

The poll, conducted for Friends of the Earth, asked people to rank which energy sources they wanted to see more of as coal and nuclear power stations are closed. Wave and tidal power polled highest (26 per cent), with nuclear in second place (22 per cent) followed by 21 per cent for solar.