East Anglia ONE developer ScottishPower shifts to 100% wind generation after sell-off
ScottishPower has shifted its business to 100% wind generation. Pic: ScottishPower - Credit: Chris James
The company responsible for the construction of the East Anglia ONE wind farm off the coast of Suffolk, ScottishPower, has announced it has shifted completely from coal and gas generation to wind power.
ScottishPower Renewables personnel Pic: ScottishPower - Credit: Archant
The announcement comes after ScottishPower completed the sale of the remaining elements of its traditional power generation business - including four gas power stations in England, and two hydro schemes and a pumped storage plant in Scotland - to Drax for £702 million.
In the last decade ScottishPower has closed all of its coal plants, and with the sale of the remaining gas and hydro stations, the company now generates 100% of its electricity from wind power. Currently ScottishPower has 2,700 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity operating or under construction in the UK, and a pipeline of future projects capable of generating more than 3,000 MW.
ScottishPower chief executive, Keith Anderson, said: “This is a pivotal shift for ScottishPower as we realise a long-term ambition. We are leaving carbon generation behind for a renewable future powered by cheaper green energy.”
The company’s renewables arm, ScottishPower Renewables has plans to develop four large wind farms off the coast of East Anglia, which would put this region at the epicentre of the world’s offshore industry.
ScottishPower Renewables' planned East Anglia offshore wind farm projects - Credit: Archant
The first of these developments is East Anglia ONE, which is expected to consist of 102 Siemens wind turbines whose cables will come to land on the Suffolk coast at Bawdsey before the electricity is transferred via underground cable to a new substation at Bramford.
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.
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Work installing the offshore foundations for the turbines is already underway and this will be followed by work to place the turbines in situ throughout 2019. If all goes to plan East Anglia ONE will be up and running by 2020.
