Friends of the Earth: Press Releases: PLANS FOR MAJOR OFFSHORE WIND FARM WELCOMED

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Plans for major offshore wind farm welcomed

Apr 7 2008

Commenting on today's (Monday 7 April) announcement by EON that it is submitting a planning application for one of the UK's biggest offshore wind farms, Friends of the Earths Energy Campaigner, Nick Rau said:

“We are delighted E.ON is pushing forward with plans for a new wind farm off the Yorkshire Coast. The Humber Gateway wind farm will help tap into the abundant clean green energy resources we have in the UK.”

“Offshore wind has a key role in the fight against climate change and helping us switch to a low-carbon economy. Projects like this are a springboard to a massive expansion of offshore wind energy. The Government must do more to develop this huge potential and ensure that Britain reaps the massive economic and environmental benefits of becoming a world leader in harvesting the wind.”

The Government has announced its aspiration for massive growth in offshore wind power, to generate as much as 25% of our electricity needs by 2020. But the Government must give more support for renewables if we are to meet our targets. Friends of the Earth is calling on Ministers to:

Amend the Renewables Obligation (RO) to ensure that 45 per cent of electricity comes from renewable sources by 2020. The RO, which requires power suppliers to derive from renewables a specified proportion of the electricity they supply to their customers - has an important role to play in helping the UK to meet its share of the EU renewable energy target [1].
Encourage householders and businesses to install small-scale renewable energy systems such as solar panels by ensuring that they receive a guaranteed premium payment (Feed In Tariff) for the renewable energy they generate [2].
Give renewable generators priority over conventional generation when connecting and delivering power to the grid.
Reform energy industry regulator OFGEM, to make tackling climate change a clear and central priority for all its work.

The MOD has objected to the wind farm proposal on the grounds that it may cause radar interference. Friends of the Earth believes that if the Government is serious about tackling climate change it should be working across departments to develop and support technological solutions to the problem.

Notes

The EU has committed itself to ensuring that 20 per cent of all EU energy comes from renewable sources by 2020. Member states will be allocated different targets to ensure that this is achieved. The EU has told the UK that its provisional target is that 15 per cent of all energy must come from renewable sources by this date.

The Renewable Obligation can play an important role in achieving this. When it started in 2003 the RO specified that 3% of the electricity sold should come from renewables. This target will rise gradually to 10.4% by 2010, and 15.4% by 2015.
A feed in tariff scheme in Germany has been highly successful. German householders get a guaranteed premium price for the green energy they supply to the grid, with contracts lasting between 15 and 25 years. As a result it now has 200 times more solar power than the UK.

Contact details:

Friends of the Earth
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LONDON
N1 7JQ

Tel: 020 7490 1555
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Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html

Media team