UK Crown Estate unveils winners for 800 MW of offshore leases

Oct 10, 2012 - The Crown Estate, which manages the UK seabed, today awarded development rights for three renewable energy projects off the Northern Ireland coast that have the potential to deliver a combined 800 MW of power.

Following a competitive tender processes during the last 10 months, successful bidders were picked for the development of a 600-MW offshore wind farm and two tidal stream schemes of up to 100 MW each.

The rights for the wind farm off the southeastern coast of County Down were awarded to First Flight Wind Ltd, a joint venture between Danish utility Dong Energy and RES-B9 (NI) Offshore Wind Ltd. The latter participant is a combination of Northern Ireland firm B9 Energy and UK-based Renewable Energy Systems.

Tidal Ventures Ltd, a joint venture between Irish tidal turbine maker OpenHydro Group and Irish energy supplier Bord Gais Energy won the rights for a 100-MW tidal project at Torr Head.

A consortium of Cork-based DP Marine Energy Ltd and Belgian company DEME Blue Energy was awarded the rights for the other 100-MW tidal stream project off Fair Head. The two tidal sites are both off the northeastern coast of County Antrim.

The companies have signed legal agreements with The Crown Estate, which will allow them to move ahead with their proposals and conduct surveys and planning work prior to submitting the projects to the relevant Northern Ireland authorities for approval.

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