RenewableUK is celebrating the Government’s announcement that Galloper offshore wind farm off the coast of Suffolk has been granted planning permission.
One of the developers, RWE npower renewables, said the construction phase alone will create up up to 850 jobs, with the potential to attract over £1 billion of investment into new UK energy infrastructure from the private sector.
The 504 megawatt (MW) project will have the capacity to power up to half a million homes when it is completed in 2017. The 140 turbines will be located 27 kilometres offshore, as an extension of Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm (504MW), thus doubling the capacity of the project developed by RWE and SSE.
RenewableUK’s Director of Offshore Renewables, Nick Medic , said: “Galloper will add more than half a gigawatt to our offshore wind capacity, generating green energy and securing investment. It’s a perfect illustration of why the Government’s industrial strategy, to be published shortly, is right to focus on offshore wind as a priority sector for economic growth and job creation – the offshore wind sector will be employing more than 47,000 people by 2021.
This announcement is timely as major international companies are currently deciding where to build the factories that will supply Galloper and the other massive offshore wind projects in the pipeline. That’s why it’s so important to get the policy framework right in the Energy Bill, so that the offshore wind supply chain can thrive in the UK.”
Next month, RenewableUK’s annual Offshore Wind conference will take place in Manchester; Michael Fallon MP, the recently appointed Energy Minister, will address the wind industry for the first time. The Shadow Energy Minister Tom Greatrex will also make a keynote speech. More than 3,000 delegates will attend, with over 150 companies exhibiting.
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Press release, May 24, 2013; Image: galloperwindfarm