Consent for Dutch Offshore Wi

RNS Number : 8276N

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC

25 February 2009

 



SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN ENERGY PLC

CONSENT OBTAINED TO DEVELOP SECOND DUTCH OFFSHORE WIND FARM

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), through its renewables development division, Airtricity, has obtained consent from the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management for construction of the offshore wind farm 'Breeveertieen II', located in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. This follows the consent to develop the 'West Rijn' wind farm obtained on 15 January 2009.

 'Breeveertien II' is the largest consented wind farm in the Netherlands and, once constructed, will make a major contribution to the Dutch national target of 6,000MW of offshore wind capacity by 2020. It will consist of up to 97 wind turbines with a total potential energy capacity of around 350MW (megawatts). It is located in the North Sea, 60 kilometres off the coast of Ijmuiden. The focus will now be on the final phase of the development process, securing financial support from the Dutch government through its renewables support mechanism ('SDE'). 

SSE was recently granted exclusive rights by The Crown Estate to develop offshore wind farms at four locations in Scottish territorial waters. The locations are: Beatrice, Bell Rock, Islay and Kintyre. It is also seeking to play a significant role in The Crown Estate's plans for a third round of offshore wind farm developments in zones off the coast of the UK.

SSE has already started construction work related to the development in the outer Thames Estuary of Greater Gabbard, a joint venture with RWE Innogy which, on completion, is expected to be the world's largest offshore wind farm with a capacity of 500MW. It also has consent to develop offshore wind farms at Arklow (Republic of Ireland) and Butendiek (Germany) and continues to pursue other options for offshore wind farm development in northern Europe. 

Paul Dowling, Chief Executive of Airtricity said: 'This is a major achievement for SSE and takes the total offshore wind farm capacity consented to us by the Dutch government to over 600MW. The Dutch market is an important new area for SSE's renewable development team and the 'West Rijn' and 'Breeveertien II' sites will give us the potential to become the leading offshore wind developer in The Netherlands.'

 

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