Following announcements from the Energy Secretary
and ScottishPower yesterday, James Gray, director of the East of England
Energy Zone, is confident new investment opportunities will come to the
East of England.
Amber Rudd’s announcement
of three offshore wind auctions
this parliament was followed by ScottishPower Renewables' announcement
that it had submitted plans
to build, East
Anglia 3, a 1200MW 172 turbine
wind farm as the next phase of East Anglia Array.
James Gray is currently in Paris at the European
Wind Energy Association annual conference and exhibition, where the mood
was 'buoyant' at the news: “The offshore wind industry has been in
suspense and frustrated because investors have been uncertain about committing
to the East of England, the UK’s offshore wind centre, without clarity
from the Government about its energy policy and future auctions.
“That despondency was lifted today with
everyone I have spoken to welcoming the positive Government message.
“We
are eagerly awaiting the detail, which we hope includes requirements for
UK content in future developments.
“This will mean more opportunities for
our supply chain, employment and investment in the East of England.
“If this market is now being properly
opened up by the government, our ports are in the driving seat because
most of the investment that comes forward is going to be in the Southern
North Sea and our ports, plus Humberside, will be the key delivery points.
Moreover our ports in particular are also well placed to support the emerging
opportunities off the Belgian and Dutch coasts.”
"The industry was already working
hard to drive down costs by developing technologies to meet the energy
secretary’s demands," he said.
“The ball is now firmly in the industry’s
court and we can be confident that developers like ScottishPower Renewables,
Statkraft , RWE and Dong, are all committed to driving costs down for the
industry to be politically sustainable long term.
“Now we can move forward driving costs
down and UK content up.”