Clipper Awarded £4.4 Million DECC Grant for Development of Offshore Wind Turbine Blades
Clipper Windpower today announced that its subsidiary, Clipper Windpower Marine, was awarded £4.4million under the ETF Offshore Wind Demonstration Call (the "Grant") previously announced by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in May.
London (PRWEB) September 16, 2009 -- Clipper Windpower Plc ("Clipper") today announced that its subsidiary, Clipper Windpower Marine, was awarded £4.4million under the ETF Offshore Wind Demonstration Call (the "Grant") previously announced by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in May.
The Grant funding will contribute towards costs associated with the development of blades for the "Britannia Project", a 10 MW offshore wind turbine prototype under development by Clipper. Scheduled for deployment in late 2011, Clipper's 10 MW wind turbine is among the world's largest under development.
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband said:
"Our coastline means the offshore wind industry has the potential to employ tens of thousands of workers by 2020, manufacturing, transporting, installing and operating the new turbines. It will take an active government to get us there and the funds I am announcing today are part of the £120 million investment we are making this year and next in the wind industry to make that happen."
The Grant is issued by DECC to stimulate the development and demonstration of offshore wind technologies and components for larger multi-megawatt turbines to enable their faster deployment within the 2020 timeframe.
James G.P. Dehlsen, Chairman of Clipper Windpower, said:
"With the deployment of the 10 MW Clipper offshore turbine in UK waters, the nation will benefit from clean power, and also from the strong economic boost arising from the development and serial production of the turbines in the coming years. DECC's leadership in initiating and expediting the Grant program is timely and will help to accelerate our planning for and delivery of the Britannia project. We are appreciative of the support and look forward to the opportunity to continue to work closely with the DECC."
The Britannia Project blade development is anticipated to take place at a new 4,000 m2 facility which Clipper expects to occupy on the River Tyne in the North East of England. Once constructed, each blade will be more than 70 metres long and weigh over 30 tonnes.
Clipper plans to utilise fully the emerging UK supply chain opportunities in developing the manufacturing process for the new 10 MW turbine. A fully operational Clipper 10 MW turbine will stand at 175 metres in height and, over its lifetime, is expected to displace the use of two million barrels of oil and offset the need to dispel 724,000 tons of CO2 into the earth's atmosphere. Upon - serial production, the 10 MW turbines will be deployed initially in European waters.
As previously announced on 17th April 2008, The Crown Estate has agreed to purchase the Britannia prototype. This investment will allow The Crown Estate to gain firsthand knowledge of the challenges facing the development of wind turbines specialised for deep water marine deployment as the process of engaging industry to develop the next phase of offshore wind farms begins.
The Britannia turbine is under development in response to the UK Government policy supporting the deployment of offshore wind turbines as a key element of meeting part of its targets for renewable energy generation required by 2020. The Crown Estate is currently in the process of awarding a further 25 GW of offshore wind zones which are likely to enter construction during 2016.
According to MAKE Consulting, the offshore wind market is expected to grow by 45% from 2009 to 2015*, as governments are pledging to support wind parks at sea.
For further information, please contact:
Investors:
Jenny Matthews
Investor Relations Director
+44 (0)20 7820 1078
jmatthews(at)clipperwind.com
Business and Trade Press:
Mary Gates
Global Communications Director
(661) 301-0400
mgates(at)clipperwind.com
Financial Press:
Patrick d'Ancona
M: Communications
+44 (0)20 7153 1547
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