UK - Crown Estate to purchase the world’s largest offshore wind turbine from Clipper Windpower for deployment in UK waters

Clipper Windpower Plc (“Clipper”) and The Crown Estate are pleased to announce that The Crown Estate has signed an agreement to purchase Clipper’s prototype of the world's largest offshore wind turbine, Clipper’s 7.5MW MBE turbine, also referred to as the Britannia project.

This investment will allow The Crown Estate to gain firsthand knowledge of the challenges facing the development of wind turbines specialised for deep water marine deployment as the process of engaging industry to develop the next phase of offshore wind farms begins. If the industry is to reach the current delivery target of a total capacity of up to 33GW by 2020, this kind of support and research will be invaluable.

In addition to a unique and diverse property portfolio, encompassing urban and rural estates, the marine interests of The Crown Estate include almost the entire UK territorial seabed out to 12 nautical miles and around 55 per cent of the UK’s coastal foreshore. In addition, The Crown Estate has the rights to lease seabed for the generation of renewable energy on the continental shelf within the Renewable Energy Zone which extends out to approximately 200 nautical miles.

Speaking in London, Rob Hastings, Director of the Marine Estates at The Crown Estate, said: “It is widely recognised that offshore wind energy will provide the majority of the required contribution needed to ensure that the UK meets its demanding renewable energy target to supply 15 per cent of our consumed energy from renewable sources by 2020.

“We believe that our support to the Britannia project through the acquisition of this purposely designed new generation offshore turbine will drive forward the development of turbine technology designed for the challenges of the offshore environment. This is an important step in the future of offshore wind and a great opportunity to help establish a new industrial base of activity to advance the UK’s leadership in renewable energy.”

Wind turbines, such as the Clipper 7.5MW MBE offshore turbine, will advance industry technology in line with the forecasted upsurge in European offshore wind development in 2011 – 2012. The MBE prototype turbine will be assembled and tested at Clipper’s Centre of Excellence for Offshore Wind in Blyth in the North East of England, strategically located to serve the offshore turbine development zones and their related load centres.

“We are very pleased to be working with The Crown Estate to realise this exciting project,” said James Dehlsen, Chairman and CEO of Clipper Windpower.

“Clipper’s current Liberty 2.5 MW turbine is the fourth successful generation of turbine technology our team has created, and it provides a technology platform which scales advantageously to meet the turbine size needed to help make offshore wind economically viable. This platform enables us to accelerate the development of this vital turbine technology at a time when the urgencies of energy security and global warming are driving the transformation of energy priorities and resource use.”

The Britannia project has recently received the support of One NorthEast, the Regional Development Agency for the North East of England.

Clipper Windpower is working closely with One NorthEast's Blyth-based New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC), which will provide the project with engineering and test facilities for blades, generators and drivetrains. Funding provided by One NorthEast also will support the development of Clipper's turbine supply chain and related manufacturing facilities.

About Clipper Windpower:
Clipper Windpower, www.clipperwind.com, is a rapidly growing company engaged in wind energy technology, turbine manufacturing, and wind project development. With offices in the USA (California, Colorado, Iowa and Maryland), Mexico, Denmark and the United Kingdom, and a ISO9001:2000 QMS Certified 330,000 square foot manufacturing and assembly facility located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the company designs advanced wind turbines, manufactures its 2.5-MW Liberty wind turbine and actively develops wind power generating projects in the Americas and Europe. Clipper is a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Clipper's ticker symbol is CWP.