|
|
|
|
Offshore Wind Energy Region
Lowestoft / Great Yarmouth in the East of England
* Introduction * OrbisEnergy * The Offshore Wind Sector in the East of England * Businesses * Key institutions in research and education * Contacts & links *
The Brochure "Offshore Wind - The North Sea Connection: POWER in the East of England" is now available for download.
Introduction to Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth in the East of England
Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth, in the East of England, have traditionally a strong industry base in the offshore oil and gas sector, with substantial energy and marine experience. The ports of these twin towns are ideally located for serving a large number of offshore wind farms. As the most easterly point of the UK, they are between two of the UK „Round Two" offshore wind areas, where 13 of the 15 licenses for large scale offshore wind farms were awarded: the Thames Estuary and the Greater Wash area.
There is already practical experience of realising offshore wind farms. The first offshore wind farm in the East of England, Scroby Sands with its 30 2MW turbines, has been completed in 2004 off the Great Yarmouth coast. The project management, assembly and related engineering has been conducted within the two towns. Lowestoft also hosts, since 2004, the largest wind turbine in the UK, with 2.75MW capacity, located at the most easterly point in the UK.
 The region has the ambition of becoming one of the key players in offshore wind energy for the UK. This aspiration has broad political and institutional support. One key project to further this aspiration is OrbisEnergy, a building to form the hub of the offshore renewable energy industry. OrbisEnergy, formerly know as Offshore Renewable Energy Centre (OREC), will be built in Lowestoft at Britain's most easterly point, and will be completed by late 2007. It is funded by the Regional Development Agency, Objective 2 and local councils. The Centre will support the development of the offshore renewables sector, providing quality office accommodation, a landmark building for the sector and the region, and the opportunity to closely link research and education with business activities. An Offshore Wind Energy Director has already been appointed, tasked with promoting OrbisEnergy and the offshore renewable energy sector in the East of England and beyond.
The East of England is home to a highly skilled workforce with marine and energy related experience. Over 15,000 people are already employed by some 500 companies that form the regional energy cluster, with the majority in the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft areas.
Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth have a large range of expertise in offshore technologies and marine skills, traditionally in the oil and gas sector. Many of these skills are transferable to offshore renewables technologies. Due to the favourable location of the two ports, between most of the planned offshore wind farms in the UK, they are in a prime position to diversify into this new sector.
The ports of Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth offer a great potential. Lowestoft Port was used for the construction of Scroby Sands Offshore Wind Farm, and there is the potential for increased use of its inner harbour for offshore wind projects. Great Yarmouth is currently planning an outer harbour as port extension (East Port), which would provide additional space for offshore wind turbine construction.
There are some 500 companies active in the energy sector in the East of England. Key companies in the offshore wind sector include:
- ODE: Strategic and technical offshore support; project managers of Scroby Sands
- REpower UK Ltd: A Joint Venture of Peter Brotherhood Ltd with REpower Systems AG of Germany, to supply, service and support the UK wind turbine market.
- SLP Energy: Offshore Engineering (installed Scroby Sands wind farm)
A full directory of regional energy companies can be found at Mapergy, allowing to search by industry classification, and to map the relevant businesses. Visit Mapergy at EEEGr's website
Key institutions in research and education
- CEFAS: Internationally renowned scientific research and advisory institute for fisheries management, environmental protection and aquaculture. http://www.cefas.co.uk
- Lowestoft College:Specialist training for maritime and offshore personnel. Safety training tank simulating realistic North Sea conditions. Nationally acknowledged as a "Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) - Offshore" http://www.lowestoft.ac.uk
- University of East Anglia with various prestigious research organisations in climate change and environment. http://www.uea.ac.uk
- Cranfield University specialises in projects associated with offshore and marine sectors and runs advanced industry related research programmes. http://www.cranfield.ac.uk
-
Business advice: Contacts and links 
Contact for POWER in the East of England:
Michael Moll, Suffolk County Council
Endeavour House, Strategic Development
8 Russell Rd, Ipswich, IP1 2BX, UK
Tel +44 1473 264808
e-mail: michael.moll@suffolkcc.gov.uk
The following organisations work closely together to promote the offshore wind sector and provide advice to businesses.
Additionally, specific advice for business development in Lowestoft is provided by:
All photos on this page show the Scroby Sands Offshore Wind Farm, and have been provided by ODE. The drawing shows the design of the planned Offshore Renewable Energy Centre. |
|
|
|
