Eclipse Energy Hybrid Wind Gas Power
Eclipse Energy Hybrid Wind Gas Power
Planning delays first offshore hybrid energy power station
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Slow assessment of plans for the world's first offshore hybrid energy plant by the Department of Trade and Industry have left innovative renewable energy company Eclipse Energy twiddling their thumbs. The so called Ormonde Project would provide a 30 wind turbine windfarm adjacent to two natural gas fields located in the Irish Sea 7-15 miles from the coast of Barrow in Cumbria.
While official DTI guidelines suggest plans for projects should be assessed within 6-9 months, Eclipse Energy have been waiting over 18 months already having submitted their plans back in the summer of 2005. The £280 million project would lead to 25 full time local jobs and 100 additional jobs during the construction phase.
The plan is to establish a gas rig by 2009 and add a 30-turbine wind farm adjacent to the 30-turbine 90MW Barrow Offshore Windfarm which was officially opened in September 2006. The renewable aspect of the project would generate over 300 GWh of electricity per year - enough to supply 71,000 homes. The natural gas aspect would generate a further 93MW.
The advantage of this hybrid system is that the infrastructure costs are shared between the renewable wind power generation and the natural gas extraction. As this is an end of life gas field, the gas contained would have remained untapped for economic reasons without the windfarm. If this project is profitable then it will almost certainly lead to similar projects being developed in the near future - with the costs of extracting small gas field reserves offset by sustainable energy generation.
Find out more about this project at the official Eclipse Energy Company Ltd website.
Alternatively read the following articles:
Decision Urged Soon on £280M Turbine Project - North West Mail.
Eclipse Wind and Gas Bid Is All at Sea - The Telegraph.
Article Last Modified: 16:07, 8th Jan 2007Comment on this Article
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