Isra-Mart srl : Crown Estate polls renewables firms on Northern Ireland leasing round

www.isra-mart.com
Isra-Mart srl news:

Northern Ireland edges forward with offshore renewables plans as Marine Current Turbines announces plan for 8GW Scottish tidal farm.

Offshore wind energy and tidal stream project developers have been invited to give their views on how they could install more than a gigawatt of new capacity off the coast of Northern Ireland as a prelude to a leasing round later this year.

The Crown Estate today launched a design discussion with industry to identify which areas of Northern Ireland's waters are most attractive for development, and how leasing rights should be awarded.
The eight-week discussion, running to 31 May, aims to shape a leasing and development process slated to start later this year. Development rights to winning bidders could then be awarded by spring 2012.

Up to 900MW of offshore wind projects and 300MW of tidal stream projects have been identified for possible construction off the Northern Ireland coast in a previous study, but the government is now expected to complete its final Offshore Renewable Energy Strategic Action Plan by early summer.

In related news, Marine Current Turbines (MCT) has today announced that it is on track to install one of Scotland's first tidal energy farms, after securing a lease agreement from The Crown Estate for an 8MW tidal farm in Kyle Rhea, a strait of water between the Isle of Skye and the Scottish mainland.

MCT predicts that Kyle Rhea will cost £40m and will be funded by private sector finance and potentially UK government support from the Low Carbon Innovation Fund or another government funding stream focusing on the development of marine energy in the UK.

The company now plans to submit a planning application to the Scottish government in early 2012, once baseline surveys and impact assessments are completed, with a view to installing the four-turbine Kyle Rhea tidal farm by 2014.

Johanna Yates, Scottish Renewables offshore policy manager, said that the award demonstrated that Scotland's nascent marine energy sector is maturing as wave and tidal projects scale up from single prototypes to larger developments.

"This project in Kyle Rhea illustrates the growth of the marine sector, and it is these kinds of plans in Scottish waters that will not only maintain but enhance our global lead in this technology," she said.