Wind power in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom energy related articles

Government energy policy

Energy use and conservation

Nuclear power

Solar power

Wind power

Energy efficiency in housing

Climate Change Programme

Other UK energy articles

As of January 2010, the installed capacity of wind power in the United Kingdom was over 4 gigawatts (GW). Wind power is the second largest source of renewable energy in the UK after biomass. Over 1 GW of new wind power capacity was brought online during 2009, 800 MW onshore and 285 MW offshore (1 GW = 1000 MW). RenewableUK estimates that installed capacity will pass the 5 and 6 GW marks during 2010. The milestone of 1 GW of installed offshore capacity was reached in April 2010, with the opening of the Gunfleet Sands and Robin Rigg wind farms.^[1]

As of 1 August 2010, there were 264 operational wind farms in the UK, with 2,908 turbines and 4,580 MW of installed capacity. A further 2,450 MW worth of schemes are currently under construction, while another 6,494 MW have planning consent and some 9,844 MW are in planning awaiting approval.^[2] In 2010, National Grid plc forecast the cumulative nameplate capacity of windfarms connected to the transmission network to be 1.6 GW, and forecast this to rise significantly over the next 10 years, potentially to 32GW.^[3]

In 2007, approximately 1.5% of UK electricity was generated by wind power (with a total of around 4.5% of UK electricity coming from all renewable sources.^[4]) This is expected to rise dramatically in coming years, as a result of the British government's energy policy strongly supporting new renewable energy generating capacity. In the short to medium term, the bulk of this new capacity is expected to be provided by onshore and offshore wind power.

In 2007 the UK Government agreed to an overall European Union target of generating 20% of EU’s energy supply from renewable sources by 2020. Each EU member state was given its own allocated target; for the UK it is 15%. This was formalised in January 2009 with the passage of the EU Renewables Directive. As renewable heat and fuel production in the UK are at extremely low bases, RenewableUK estimates that this will require 35–40% of the UK’s electricity to be generated from renewable sources by that date,^[5] to be met largely by 33–35 GW of installed wind capacity.

In December 2007, the Government announced plans for a massive expansion of wind energy in the UK, by conducting a Strategic Environmental Assessment of up to 25 GW worth of wind farm offshore sites in preparation for a new round of development. These proposed sites are in addition to the 8 GW worth of sites already awarded in the 2 earlier rounds of site allocations, Round 1 in 2001 and Round 2 in 2003. Taken together it is estimated that this would result in the construction of over 7,000 offshore wind turbines.^[6]

Contents 1 Offshore wind farms 1.1 Round 1 1.2 Round 2 1.3 Round 1 and 2 Extensions 1.4 Round 3 1.4.1 Round 3 consortia 1.5 Scottish offshore 1.6 List of built and proposed offshore wind farms 2 Onshore wind farms 2.1 List of the largest operational and proposed onshore wind farms 3 The renewables obligation 4 Capacity factor and related issues 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Offshore wind farms

The United Kingdom became the world leader of offshore wind power generation in October 2008 when it overtook Denmark.^[7] Currently it has 1,041 MW of operational nameplate capacity, with a further 1,452 MW in construction.^[8] The UK has been estimated to have over a third of Europe's total offshore wind resource, which is equivalent to three times the electricity needs of the nation at current rates of electricity consumption. (In 2010 peak winter demand was 59.3 GW,^[9] in summer it drops to about 45 GW). One estimate calculates that wind turbines in one third of UK waters shallower than 25 metres (82 ft) would, on average, generate 40 GW; turbines in one third of the waters between 25 metres (82 ft) and 50 metres (164 ft) depth would on average generate a further 80 GW, i.e. 120 GW in total).^[10]. An estimate of the theoretical maximum potential of the UK's offshore wind resource in all waters to 700 metres (2,300 ft) depth gives the average power as 2200 GW.^[11]

The first developments in UK offshore wind power came about through the now discontinued Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO), leading to two wind farms, Blyth Offshore and Gunfleet sands.^[12] The NFFO was introduced as part of the Electricity Act 1989 and obliged UK electricity supply companies to secure specified amounts of electricity from non-fossil sources,^[13] which provided the initial spur for the commercial development of renewable energy in the UK.

The UK will require 7,500 offshore turbines by 2020 to meet EU targets.^[14]

[edit] Round 1

In 1998 the British Wind Energy Association (now RenewableUK) began discussions with the government to draw up formal procedures for negotiating with the Crown Estate, the owner of almost all the UK coastline out to distance of 12 nautical miles (22.2 km). The result was a set of guidelines published in 1999, and a huge increase in the number of applications submitted. Eighteen of the applications were granted permission to proceed in April 2001, in what has become known as round one of UK offshore wind development.

The first of the round one projects completed, and the first large scale offshore wind farm in the UK, North Hoyle, was commissioned in December 2003. The second, Scroby Sands, was completed one year later in December 2004, followed by the 90 MW Kentish Flats in 2005. The fourth, Barrow Offshore, with 30 turbines, finished construction in July 2006. Seven of the remaining projects have received consent from the planning authorities, while the remaining four are still awaiting consent, including the Shell Flat site off the coast of Lancashire, which has since been withdrawn.

[edit] Round 2

Lessons learnt from round one, particularly the difficulty in getting planning consent for offshore wind farms, together with the increasing pressure to reduce CO₂ emissions, prompted the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to develop a strategic framework for the offshore wind industry. The result, known as Round 2, was announced in December 2003 with 15 projects with a combined capacity of 7.2 GW. By far the largest of these are the 1 GW London Array and the 1.2 GW Triton Knoll.^[15]

[edit] Round 1 and 2 Extensions

In May 2010 the Crown Estate gave approval for seven Round 1 and 2 sites to be extended creating an additional 2 GW of offshore wind capacity.^[16] Each wind farm extension will require a complete new planning application including an Environmental Impact Assessment and full consultation. The sites are:^[17]

• Burbo Bank and Walney: Dong Wind UK
• Kentish Flats and Thanet: Vattenfall
• Greater Gabbard: SSE Renewables and RWE Npower Renewables
• Race Bank: Centrica Renewable Energy
• Dudgeon: Warwick Energy

[edit] Round 3

Following on from the Offshore wind SEA announced by the Government in December 2007, the Crown Estate launched a third round of site allocations in June 2008. Round 3 is envisaged on a much bigger scale than either of its predecessors – combined, Rounds 1 and 2 allocated 8 GW of sites, while Round 3 alone could identify up to 25 GW.

The Crown Estate proposed 9 offshore zones, within which a number of individual wind farms would be situated. It ran a competitive tender process to award leases to consortia of potential developers. The bidding closed in March 2009 with over 40 applications from companies and consortia and multiple tenders for each zone. On 8 January 2010 the successful bidders were announced.

Following the allocation of zones, individual planning applications still have to be sought by developers. These are unlikely to be completed before 2012 and as such the first Round 3 projects are not expected to begin generating electricity before 2015.

[edit] Round 3 consortia

During the bidding process, there was considerable speculation over which companies had bid for the zones. The Crown Estate did not make the list public and most of the consortia also remained silent. The successful bidders for each zone were eventually announced as follows:^[18]

Round 3 Windfarms

Zone[19]	Zone Name	Potential Power (GW)	Developer	Notes
1	Moray Firth	1.3	Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd	formed from EDP Renováveis and SeaEnergy Renewables Ltd (SERL)
2	Firth of Forth	3.5	Seagreen Wind Energy Ltd	partnership between SSE Renewables and Fluor Ltd
3	Dogger Bank	9	Forewind	a consortium made up of SSE Renewables, RWE npower, Statkraft and Statoil. If built this would be the world's largest offshore wind farm.
4	Hornsea	4	Mainstream Renewable Power Siemens Financial Services
5	Norfolk Bank[20]	7.2	ScottishPower Renewables Vattenfall AB	Known as the East Anglia Array
6	Southern Array[20]	0.6	E.ON	formerly "Hastings"
7	West of Isle of Wight	0.9	Eneco	Known as the Eneco Wind Park
8	Bristol Channel	1.5	RWE npower	Known as the Atlantic Array
9	Irish Sea	4.2	Centrica
Total		32.2

[edit] Scottish offshore

In addition to the 25 GW scoped under the Round 3 SEA, the Scottish Government and the Crown Estate have also called for bids on potential sites within Scottish territorial waters. These were originally considered as too deep to provide viable sites, however 17 companies submitted tenders and the Crown Estate has signed ‘exclusivity agreements with 9 companies for 6 GW worth of sites.^[21] An SEA will still have to be carried out on these sites before planning permissions are granted. The sites are:

Windfarms in Scottish Waters

Zone[22]	Farm	Power (MW)	Developer	Notes
1	Solway Firth	300	E.ON Climate & Renewables UK Develpoments
2	Wigtown Bay	280	DONG Wind (UK)
3	Kintyre	378	Airtricity Holdings (UK) Ltd
4	Islay	680	Airtricity Holdings (UK) Ltd
5	Argyll Array	1500	Scottish Power Renewables
6	Beatrice	920	Airtricity Holdings (UK) Ltd SeaEnergy Renewables Ltd
7	Inch Cape	905	Npower Renewables Ltd SeaEnergy Renewables Ltd
8	Neart na Gaoithe	360	Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd
9	Forth Array	415	Fred. Olsen Renewables Ltd
	Bell Rock		Airtricity Holdings (UK) Ltd Fluor Ltd	Development halted due to radar services in the area[23]
Total		5,738

[edit] List of built and proposed offshore wind farms

UK Offshore Windfarms^[8][24]

Farm	Completed	Power (MW)	No. Turbines	Notes	Round
Blyth Offshore	December 2000	4	2	Evaluation project	NFFO
North Hoyle	December 2003	60	30	The UK's first major offshore wind farm	1
Scroby Sands	December 2004	60	30		1
Kentish Flats	December 2005	90	30		1
Barrow Offshore Wind	May 2006	90	30		1
Burbo Bank	October 2007	90	25		1
Beatrice	August 2007	10	2	Deep water evaluation project.[25]
Lynn and Inner Dowsing	October 2008[7]	194	54		1
Rhyl Flats	December 2009	90	25	Officially inaugurated 2 December 2009[26]	1
Gunfleet Sands I	April 2010	108	30	Officially inaugurated 16 June 2010 [27]	1
Gunfleet Sands II	April 2010	64	18	As above	2
Robin Rigg – Solway Firth	April 2010	180	60	The UK's largest operational offshore wind farm.[28]	1
Greater Gabbard		504	140	Approved. Under construction[29]	2
Ormonde		150	30	Approved. Under construction[30]	1
Sheringham Shoal		315	88	Approved. Under construction[31]	2
Thanet		300	100	Approved. Under construction[32]	2
Walney I & II		367	102	Approved. Phase I under construction[33]	2
Gwynt y Môr		576	160	Consent granted December 2008. Construction to begin in 2011[34]	2
Lincs		270	75	Consent granted January 2007. Construction to begin in 2010[35]	2
London Array		1,000	341	Consent granted December 2006.[36] Offshore construction to begin in 2011[37]	2
Teesside/Redcar		90	30	Consent granted September 2007.[38] Construction to begin in 2010[39]	1
West of Duddon Sands		500	160	Consent granted September 2008.[40]	2
Docking Shoal		~500	83 to 177	Planning application submitted in December 2008[41]	2
Dudgeon		up to 560	up to 168	Planning application submitted in December 2009[42]	2
Humber Gateway		300	42 to 83	Planning in progress[43]	2
Race Bank		620	88 to 206	Planning application submitted in January 2009[44]	2
Westermost Rough		234	65	Planning application submitted in November 2009[45]	2
Triton Knoll		1,200	240	Planning stage, pending EIA[46]	2
Atlantic Array		1,500	350	Planning stage, pending SEA, construction 2013-2018[47]	3
Cromer		108	30	Withdrawn after approval[8]
Scarweather Sands		108	30	Withdrawn after approval[8]
Shell Flat		180	90	Withdrawn after resubmission[48]

[edit] Onshore wind farms

The first windfarms in the UK were built onshore, and they currently generate more power than the offshore farms. Gaining planning permission for onshore wind farms is proving difficult, with many schemes stalled in the planning system, and a high rate of refusal.^[49] The RenewableUK (formerly BWEA) figures show that there are approximately 7,000 MW worth of onshore schemes waiting for planning permission. On average a wind farm planning application takes 2 years to be considered by a local authority, with an approval rate of 40%. This compares extremely unfavourably with other types of major applications, such as housing, retail outlets and roads, 70% of which are decided within the 13-16 week statutory deadline; for wind farms the rate is just 6%.

Approximately half of all wind farm planning applications, over 4 GW worth of schemes, have objections from airports and traffic control on account of their impact on radar. In 2008 NATS en Route, the BWEA, the Ministry of Defence and other Government departments signed a Memorandum of Understanding seeking to establish a mechanism for resolving objections and funding for more technical research.

In the year to 31 March 2005, onshore wind farms, according to Ofgem, produced 1,734 gigawatt-hours (GW·h), an average of 198 MW, but this is expected to rise to 2,500 GW·h (an average of 285 MW) in the following year, so there is considerable scope for further growth (16,600 MW peak capacity had been installed in Germany by 2004).^[50]

According to DTI figures onshore wind farms in the UK generated 2,501 GW·h in 2005, while offshore farms generated 403 GW·h. This compares to a total electricity demand of 407,265 GW·h for the same year, meaning that the combined onshore and offshore contribution to UK electricity generation was 0.71%. In 2006, onshore wind farms generated 3,574 GW·h, while offshore farms generated 651 GW·h. In 2007 wind farms generated 4,491 GW·h (onshore) and 783 GW·h (offshore), while in 2008 generation had risen to 5,792 GW h (onshore) and 1,305 GW·h (offshore). As total demand had fallen to 399,619 GW·h, the combined contribution of onshore and offshore wind in 2008 was 1.78%.^[51] In 2007 the planning permission problem was exacerbated by a shortage of spare parts for certain models of generator, which put some turbines out of action for over six months, triggering clauses in planning consents requiring removal of the non-functional turbines.^[52]

[edit] List of the largest operational and proposed onshore wind farms

UK Onshore Windfarms

Wind Farm	County	Country	Turbine model	Power (MW) each Turbine	No. of Turbines	Total capacity (MW)	Online	Notes
Black Law Phase I & II	South Lanarkshire	Scotland	Siemens SWT-2.3	2.3	54	124	September 2005	Extended September 2006
Braes of Doune	Stirling	Scotland	Vestas V80	2	36	72	February 2007
Farr Wind Farm	Highland	Scotland	Bonus B2300	2.3	40	92	May 2006
Hadyard Hill Wind Farm	South Ayrshire	Scotland	Bonus B2300	2.5	52	120	March 2006
Scout Moor Wind Farm	Lancashire	England	Nordex N80	2.5	26	65	September 2008	Largest onshore farm in England
Whitelee Wind Farm	East Renfrewshire	Scotland	Siemens SWT-2.3	2.3	140	322	November 2008	2nd largest onshore farm in Europe, largest in the UK
Arecleoch	South Ayrshire	Scotland		2	60	120		Under construction[53]
Crystal Rig 2 (extension)	Scottish Borders	Scotland		2.3	51	117.3		Under construction[54]
Beinn Mhor (Muaithaebhal)	Western Isles	Scotland		3.6	33	118		Consent granted January 2010[55]
Whitelee Phase II extension	East Renfrewshire	Scotland		3.6	39	140		Consent granted December 2009[56]
Berry Burn	Moray	Scotland		3.7	29	78.3		Consent granted August 2009[57]
Whitelee Phase I extension	East Renfrewshire	Scotland		3.6	36	129.6		Consent granted May 2009[56]
Clyde Wind Farm	South Lanarkshire	Scotland		2.3	152	349.6		Consent granted July 2008[58]

[edit] The renewables obligation

Through the Renewables Obligation, British electricity suppliers are now required by law to provide a proportion of their sales from renewable sources such as wind power or pay a penalty fee. The supplier then receives a Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) for each MWh of electricity they have purchased. The Energy Act 2008 introduced banded ROCs for different technologies from April 2009. Onshore wind continues to receive 1 ROC per MWh, however offshore wind now receives 1.5 ROCs, while small wind systems under 50 kW currently receive 2 ROCs. Wind energy receives approximately one third of the total revenue generated by the RO. The ROCs are the principal form of support for UK wind power, providing around half of the revenue from wind generation.^[59]

[edit] Capacity factor and related issues

Because the level at which a wind farm operates is determined by the wind speed at any particular time, capacity factor bears limited relation to the hours it operates. In comparison, thermal power stations must run at or near their full capacities at all times in order to achieve maximum efficiency. This makes them ill-suited to act as a supplement to wind power. An additional problem is that when winds are outside the optimal range for wind turbines (5 to 25 m/s), they cannot generate any power. If this happens during a winter cold snap, when electrical demand reaches its highest levels of the year, conventional power sources must have the capacity of meeting that entire demand. ^{[60] [61]}

In 2007, UK wind farms achieved "load factors on an unchanged configuration basis" of 27.3% for onshore and 28.3% for offshore respectively. In 2008 onshore farms achieved 29.4% and offshore farms achieved 34.9% on the same basis.^[51] A study by the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), which campaigns against the use of wind energy in the UK, claimed that only a few Scottish wind farms achieved the 28% average, while turbines in lowland England were operating at much lower levels, some at less than 10% of capacity.^[62]

There is also much dispute over the necessary amount of reserve or backup required to support the large-scale use of wind energy due to the variable nature of its supply. The opponents of wind energy^[who?] argue that it is necessary to have up to 80–90% backup, however National Grid which has responsibility for balancing the grid reported in June 2009 that the electricity distribution grid could cope with on-off wind energy without spending a lot on backup.^[63]

[edit] See also

• Baywind Energy Co-operative
• Ecotricity
• Enercon
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
• Energy policy of the United Kingdom
• Friends of the Earth
• Grants for wind power/turbines
• Good Energy
• Green electricity in the United Kingdom
• Infinis
• npower UK
• Relative cost of electricity generated by different sources
• Renewable energy in the European Union
• Renewable energy in Scotland
• RenewableUK
• Wind power
• Wind power in Scotland, List of power stations in Scotland#Wind power
• Wind turbines (UK domestic)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wind power in the United Kingdom

• 4C Offshore's Wind Farm Map and Database containing all UK offshore wind farms.
• COWRIE Collaborative offshore wind research into the environment
• UK wind farm performance 2002-2009
• The Renewable Energy Centre Wind Power in the UK.
• The Sustainable Energy Alliance UK renewable energy supporters organisation
• A Sea Change: The Wind Farm Revolution
• UK Offshore Wind: Moving Up a Gear
• The Crown Estate Invests in 25 GW of Offshore Wind Power
• UK plans big wind power expansion
• British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) Briefing Sheets
• UK Group Plans to Cut the Costs of Offshore Wind

v • d • e Wind power in the United Kingdom List of onshore wind farms in the United Kingdom · List of offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom · Wind power in Scotland · Wind turbines (UK domestic) Large onshore wind farms Black Law · Braes of Doune · Farr · Hadyard Hill · Scout Moor · Whitelee Large offshore wind farms Barrow · Burbo Bank · Kentish Flats · Lynn and Inner Dowsing · North Hoyle · Scroby Sands · Rhyl Flats Wind power companies Airtricity · Ecotricity · Npower Renewables · Siemens Power Generation · Vestas Turbine Installation Vessels Resolution

v • d • e Wind power Wind power Environmental effects · History · Vehicles · Wind power · Wind turbine · Windmill Wind turbines Aerodynamics · Airborne · Darrieus · Design · Floating · Savonius · Small · Unconventional · Vertical axis Wind power industry Consultants  · Manufacturers · Software  · Wind farm management Wind farms Community-owned · List of offshore wind farms · List of onshore wind farms Concepts Betz' law · Capacity factor · EROEI · Grid energy storage · HVDC · Intermittency · Net energy gain · Storage · Subsidies · Wind power forecasting · Wind profile power law · Wind resource assessment

v • d • e Renewable energy by country (list of topics) Wind by region Asia · Europe (EU) by country Australia · Austria · Belgium · Brazil · Canada · China · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · India · Iran · Ireland · Italy · Morocco · New Zealand · Pakistan · Portugal · Romania · Spain · Sweden · Turkey · United Kingdom · United States Solar by region Asia · Europe (EU) by country Australia · Canada · China · Germany · India · Israel · Japan · Morocco · Pakistan · Portugal · Romania · Spain · Turkey · United Kingdom · United States Geothermal by country Australia · Canada · Chile · China · Denmark · Germany · Iceland · Indonesia · Japan · Kenya · Mexico · New Zealand · Philippines · Portugal · Romania · Russia · Turkey · United Kingdom · United States · West Indies Portals: Energy · Renewable energy · Sustainable development