Did you know?
Nelson's Monument in Great Yarmouth was built in 1819 - 24 years before Nelson's Column in London.
Lowestoft came a step closer today (Fri Jan 8) to becoming the base for the development of one of the world’s biggest offshore wind farms.
About 1,000 turbines will be built on the site off the Norfolk and north Suffolk coast - and Lowestoft is a leading contender to provide the operations and maintenance base for the project.
It was announced by the Government this morning (Fri Jan 8) that East Anglia Offshore Wind Ltd – equally owned by ScottishPower Renewables and Swedish company Vettenfall Vindkraft - had won the licence for the East Anglia Array wind farm, also known as Norfolk Bank.
The company said it would set up its base in East Anglia and that Lowestoft is an attractive option.
Philip Watkins, Chief Executive of 1st East, the urban regeneration company for Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth, said, “This is good news for the town and the sub-region.
“We’ve been working for months with local authorities and other partners to encourage energy companies bidding for the licence to set up their operations and maintenance base in Lowestoft. The town’s PowerPark is a regeneration project aimed at creating a cluster of energy businesses, and it has already attracted Greater Gabbard Wind Farms Ltd.
“ScottishPower Renewables and Vettenfall came to see what we had to offer and I they liked what they saw. If they chose to establish their base here it would be a significant boost to PowerPark and the entire sub-region.
“They have made it clear that Lowestoft is attractive to them.
“We always felt that Lowestoft offered everything that a developer would need and we made a strong case to all the companies short-listed for the licence. We congratulate East Anglia Offshore Wind on winning the East Anglia Array bid and would be delighted to see them in Lowestoft.”
ScottishPower Renewables and Vettenfall made specific enquiries about supply chain businesses in Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth, and also the skills development and education links with Lowestoft College, University Campus Suffolk and the University of East Anglia, said Mr Watkins.
The East Anglia Array was one of nine licences for new offshore wind farms in British waters issued today in the third licensing round by the Crown Estate, which owns most of the seabed. The announcement was made in London by the Rt Hon Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
The second largest of the round 3 zones, the 603,680-hectare East Anglia Array wind farm site is bigger than the county of Norfolk and would cost about £15bn.
Keith Anderson, of the ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall joint venture, said they were delighted to have been awarded the licence.
“There is no doubt that delivering the East Anglia Array will be a major engineering challenge but the combined experience of both partners acquired over decades in the energy business will help us deliver a project that will deliver enough green power to meet the equivalent annual electricity demand of more than five million homes in the UK," said Mr Anderson, Managing Director of ScottishPower Renewables.
The most ambitious round yet of licensing, the nine new zones will deliver up to 25 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2020. Only the Dogger Bank zone is bigger than the East Anglia Array site.
1st East has been working with Associated British Ports, Suffolk County Council, Waveney District Council, Renewables East, the East of England Energy Group, NWES and the East of England Development Agency to encourage developers to consider Lowestoft.
The port is the closest to the zone, which is just 25km away at its nearest point, but the partners say it has many other advantages. These include extensive quay space and warehousing, 15 hectares of land at PowerPark dedicated to energy companies and high quality office accommodation at OrbisEnergy.
The partners also promoted a track record for fast planning consent and top-level enthusiasm to make things happen.
“The area offers so many benefits,” said Mr Watkins. “We have experienced offshore training providers and an extensive supply chain, in Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth, that’s backed by more than 40 years of experience in the Southern North Sea energy business. The opportunity is large enough for both Lowestoft and EastPort UK”
The two towns already have experience of wind farm projects. Lowestoft was the construction base for the Scroby Sands project off the Norfolk coast and Great Yarmouth-based ODE continues to manage its operations and maintenance programme.
Lowestoft is the operations and maintenance base for Greater Gabbard, off Suffolk, the world’s largest offshore wind farm under construction. The East Anglia Array will produce five gigawatts of electricity – ten times that of Greater Gabbard.
The predicted 25-gigawatt output of the nine new offshore wind farm zones is more than three times the output of those under construction or planned in rounds 1 and 2 combined. The total investment in round 3 projects is estimated at £100 billion.
