Pupils choose names for two offshore wind farms

South Axholme Science and Arts School, in North Lincolnshire, was the overall winner of the competition to name individual farms within the 4GW scheme off Hornsea.

Its suggestion of Heron Ventus – after the ancient Greek mathematician Heron of Alexandria and ventus, from the Latin for wind – will be used for the first farm in the development, whose construction begins in 2014.

Hessle High School’s proposal Njord – after the Norse God of wind – will be used for the second farm.

The results mark the end of the first phase of a four-year competition to encourage year nine school pupils, aged from 12 to 14, to focus on Science Technology Engineering and Maths subjects as a route to a career in the offshore wind and renewable energy sector. Developer SMart Wind is a joint venture including Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens.

The first of the wind farms to be developed will be Humber Gateway, off Spurn Point, shortly followed by up to three others, including the vast Hornsea and Dogger Bank fields and Westernmost Rough.

While the news has been welcomed in Hull where thousands of jobs are on the cards through plans announced by Siemens for a multi-million pound manufacturing plant for offshore wind turbines, fishermen are fearful the development of so many turbines on their doorstep will interfere with fishing and threaten their livelihoods.