Jonathan Cole may live in Surrey but it is the business he represents and its potential to have a huge impact on East Anglia, which puts him among the business elite in the region.
He runs the global offshore wind business of Iberdrola and ScottishPower Renewables, which under Jonathan’s leadership has grown from its inception in 2010 to become a global operation with projects in the United States, Germany, France and the UK including in the Irish Sea off the Cumbrian coast (see video below).
A key focus for the business at present are four planned wind farms off the coast of East Anglia, which are scheduled to all be in place and operational around a dozen years from now and continue to produce energy for at least the next three decades. Together it is anticipated they will produce enough electricity to power over 2 million homes, support thousands of UK jobs and drive significant investment in the local area, including in and around Lowestoft where the operational side of the projects will be based.
Huge opportunity
All this activity, will, says Jonathan, ensure that East Anglia becomes one of the “most relevant areas in the global offshore wind sector”.
He added; “It is recognised that there’s a clear need to decarbonise the power sector but also meet a growing demand for the energy we are consuming through our increased use of electronic devices and electric vehicles.
“This means there’s a need to electrify the economy and produce it from clean renewable energy.
“East Anglia is in a fantastic position in that all the different low carbon energy forms - nuclear, clean gas and renewable - are there. It’s a huge opportunity for the region.”
When it comes to offshore wind, Jonathan said the region has three things going for it: the right physical characteristics offshore including suitable water depth and wind conditions; good local infrastructure in terms of ports and connections to the grid; and a skilled local workforce and supply chain.
Onshore work
The first of ScottishPower Renewables’ offshore wind schemes to be built will be East Anglia ONE, which is expected to consist of 102 Siemens wind turbines with an overall generating capacity of up to 714 megawatts. ScottishPower Renewables says this project alone represents a £2.5 billion investment that will provide enough electricity for up to 600,000 homes - the majority of the dwellings in Suffolk and Norfolk.
Currently work is underway constructing the onshore facilities that will connect with the cables coming from the turbines at sea. These will come into a landfall site at Bawdsey on the Suffolk coast before the electricity is transferred via underground cable under the River Deben and around Ipswich, to a new substation at Bramford that will connect the offshore windfarm to the National Grid.
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Work installing the offshore foundations for the turbines is expected to start this year before the turbines are placed in situ throughout 2019. If all goes to plan East Anglia ONE will be up and running by 2020.
Regional transformation
Alongside this work, ScottishPower Renewables has partnered with ABP to build an operations and maintenance centre in Lowestoft for its wind farms.
Jonathan says around 100 people will be employed at the centre in “good, highly-skilled roles” when East Anglia ONE is completed. The many contractors and supply chain operators who will also use the site every year are also expected to contribute substantially to the local economy, which has struggled in recent times as the fishing industry has declined.
Read more: £10m work at port set to support offshore wind farm
While Lowestoft is set to benefit from the arrival of more offshore wind activity in the region, other similar coastal communities beyond East Anglia, who have experienced their own hardships, are also experiencing upturns from the renewables revolution.
Much of the cables ScottishPower Renewables uses for its projects are manufactured in Hartlepool, while the 75-metre long blades that will make up East Anglia’s ONE turbines are being supplied from a new Siemens facility in Hull. The jacket structures for the turbines are being assembled in Belfast and Great Yarmouth is the base from which they will be transported out to sea and installed.
“One of the most rewarding things is you see the regional transformation these projects are having,” Jonathan added.
“Post-industrial coastal communities are being reinvigorated and stimulated by this investment - it really makes a difference locally.
“I love the fact it is having this impact.”
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