A quarter of London households are to be powered by a wind farm, known as the London Array, in the Thames Estuary by the year 2012.
The wind farm – being built by a consortium of E.ON, Dong Energy and Masdar – is to be the biggest offshore farm of its kind. Work on the £2billion project will start this year before beginning to produce electricity in 2012.
There had been doubts over the project – which was first muted in 2006 – especially when one of the major financiers, oil company Shell, pulled out in 2008. Masdar stepped into the vacant spot but even with their funding the project would not have been able to go ahead without changes to the Budget announced last month, with a boost to the Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) incentive scheme.
The ROC came into effect in 2002 to encourage the generation of electricity in the UK from renewable sources. The most recent goals set ask for 15.4% of the UK’s energy to come from green sources by the year 2015. The London Array alone would account for just below 7% of this target.
Ed Miliband, energy secretary, said: “The London Array sends an important signal about the UK renewables market and the confidence of major suppliers, and vindicates the decision in the Budget about the ROCs.”
Related posts:
energy
london, uk, wind farm
0