30 wind turbines at Scroby Sands/UK swing into action!

The waiting was finally over yesterday as all 30 Scroby Sands wind turbines began generating power for the national grid. Windfarm operators E On UK, which runs Powergen, announced that Britain's second biggest offshore windfarm 2.5km off the Norfolk coast was fully operational and commissioning environmentally friendly energy.
Last night wind energy associations congratulated the company on completing the £75m scheme - which has doubled the UK's offshore generating capacity and makes it the second largest offshore wind generator in the world after Denmark. Gordon Edge, head of offshore at the British Wind Energy Association, said the project was an important milestone, which paved the way forward for the UK to generate clean power and income from wind energy.

He said: "The commissioning of Scroby Sands is another important milestone in the development of an industry in which the UK can be the global powerhouse, building on our wind resource and experience in extracting energy from the marine environment. "As our offshore capacity grows so will UK companies' skills, which they will be able to export to Europe to the country's economic benefit." He added: "Through the trailblazing of developers like E On UK Renewables, the UK can get the benefit of large scale clean power generation at home and income from abroad." The association said the Scroby Sands project represented nearly a quarter of the wind capacity built in the UK this year and promised a bigger expansion of wind power next year with projects under development off the north Kent coast and Barrow in Cumbria. It also predicted the UK would establish itself as an industry world leader with developers readying projects for construction in 2006 and beyond. The windfarm was due to be completed two months ago, but poor weather and a technical hitch put it behind schedule. Last night, E On chief executive Paul Golby said all 30 turbines had completed 10-day test runs, but there were still additional tests to be completed. He said: "This is a fantastic day for us and for everyone who's worked on the project."