RWE plans 4,000 MW of wind power for UK

ESSEN, GERMANY - German energy giant RWE AG has revealed that it plans to build 4,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power in the United Kingdom.

Through its renewables arm RWE Innogy, the company was one of the big winners in the recent awarding of Round 3 offshore wind contracts. Overall, Round 3 contracts covered 25 gigawatts (GW) of wind capacity. The investment from RWE Innogy could be worth more than 12 billion euros (US $17.3 billion) in the coming decade.

"The UK offshore wind energy market is among the most attractive in all of Europe," commented Martin Skiba, head of RWE Innogy's Offshore Wind Department. "The Round 3 tendering process is the latest major opportunity to secure rights for the development of large-scale, deep-sea wind farms in this market. Given our experience with the development and construction of offshore wind farms, especially in the UK, we now have the unique opportunity to move a major step closer to achieving our goals of developing renewable energies in Europe."

RWE Innogy is involved in two of the nine proposed Round 3 wind farm sites. One of these is the facility at Dogger Bank, the largest planned offshore wind farm in the world. The company has signed zone development agreements for the Bristol Channel Zone off the coasts of South Wales and North Devon, which comprises the 1.5-GW Atlantic Array project. RWE was also part of the Forewind consortium with Scottish and Southern Energy plc, Statkraft AS and Statoil ASA, which won the rights to build the 9-GW Dogger Bank Zone project off the Yorkshire coast. Dogger Bank also has capacity to add another 4 GW in the future.

The Dogger Bank Zone is about 8,600 square kilometres in size and is situated between 125 and 195 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast. Last September, the European Wind Energy Association identified the Dogger Bank Zone as a potential central 'node' between the UK, Norway and continental Europe for an inter-European power system that could be in place by 2020. The 'node' could balance fluctuating wind power output by using stored power from Norwegian hydroelectric stations. This, in turn, could be transmitted as base-load electricity.

Off the North Wales coast, RWE Innogy already operates the 60-megwatt (MW) North Hoyled wind farm, which is the UK's first large-scale offshore wind farm, as well as the newly completed 90-MW Rhyl Flats Offshore Windfarm.

Nearby, the company is preparing to begin construction of the 576-MW Gwynt y Môr Offshore Windfarm. RWE Innogy also owns a 50% share in the 500-MW Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm off the east coast of England, which is scheduled for completion next year.

In related news, RWE has announced that it will build the Nordsee Ost offshore wind farm, one of the first in Germany, with preparatory work starting this year. The wind farm has a planned installed capacity of 295 MW and will be located about 30 kilometres northwest of the island of Helgoland. The plan is to erect a total of 48 turbines, and the investment will top 1 billion euros (US $1.45 billion).