UK awards big offshore wind-power concessions

The UK's ambitious offshore wind-power programme – the world's largest – has moved into a new phase with the selection of firms to build some 30 gigawatts (GW) of capacity by 2020. Now there just remains the small task of getting the job done

Round 3 of the programme, run by the UK Crown Estate, covers the addition of around 6,400 additional turbines, with a generating capacity of up to 32 GW in nine UK coastal zones, adding to the 8 GW allocated in previous rounds. If these goals were met, then wind would meet around 60% of the UK's 2020 renewable energy target. The biggest licence was won by a group including SSE Renewables, RWE npower Renewables, Statoil and Statkraft, which could produce up to 9 GW in the Dogger Bank zone, 100 km out into the North Sea. Scottish Power Renewables and Vattenfall Vindkraft have a licence to provide up to 7.2 GW in the second-largest zone, Norfolk Bank, again in the North Sea. Centrica, E.On and