Nine countries, including the UK, signed up to develop an integrated offshore grid in the North and Irish Seas today. In the margins of the Energy Council meeting in Brussels, energy and climate change minister Lord Hunt signed the agreement along with ministers from Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland.
The idea of a grid spanning European waters should make supplies of electricity more secure for the participating countries by making it easier to optimise offshore wind electricity production. It will also help the EU as a whole to meet its renewable energy target for 2020.
Lord Hunt said: "Talks begin today in Copenhagen on how we can cut carbon emissions worldwide. A large part of that will be continuing the domestic decarbonisation of our energy supplies by moving to low carbon sources including wind.
"We're already the world leader in offshore wind here in the UK and today's announcements bring new funding and expert direction to grow this vital new industry They also mean we can work with other countries in the EU to increase our renewable energy supplies."
Lord Hunt also announced the next round of low carbon energy demonstration capital grants for Vestas, Clipper and Mitsubishi, and also the appointment of Professor Bernard Bulkin as the expert chair of DECC's Office for Renewable Energy Deployment (ORED).
Vestas will receive £1.75m from the government and a further £1.75m from the South East England Development Agency, in addition to £6m already awarded. Vestas has announced today that with the award of its grant they will be going ahead with their R & D facility on the Isle of Wight. Vestas currently employs 160 on the Isle of Wight. By the time it opens the technology centre in 2011 it expects this to grow to over 200 and then to nearly 400 over the following years.
Rob Sauven, managing director, Vestas Technology R&D said: "With this investment Vestas has chosen the UK as its location to build a strategically vital part of it global technology capability. We will be able to build and test the largest blades in the world including those related to our recent offshore product announcements."
Pam Alexander, SEEDA chief executive, said: "This award is good news for the UK's position in the offshore wind market and also for the Isle of Wight's workforce and economy. Vestas is a key employer offering high value jobs and we are keen to retain them at the heart of the Isle of Wight's centre of excellence in advance composite materials. The R&D centre will shortly be leading the development of new off shore wind technologies for the rest of the world."
On his appointment as expert chair to ORED Professor Bulkin said: "We need to move to low carbon energy supplies in order to combat climate change and achieving our renewables targets for 2020 are a key part of that.
"This will be a challenging and important role. I am looking forward to getting started at DECC."
