May 23 - Scotsman, The

Imagine a Scotland circled by farms of giant offshore wind turbines with blades that span an area the size of the London Eye. The wind-technology industry was this week given the chance to show how interested it is in building wind farms in the seas around Scotland.

The move is likely to reveal whether wind farms will spring up all around the coast, or whether there is little interest from the industry.

The Crown Estates this week invited applications of interest for Scottish territory waters and is preparing to decide which locations around the coast are suitable by the end of the year.

Some industry experts predict offshore wind farms will be dotted all around the Scottish coast within a decade, as weather conditions are ideal and expertise from the oil and gas industry is easily transferable.

Others believe the sea around Scotland is too deep to make offshore wind technology viable, meaning that companies will focus their attention on England, where the sea is shallower.

Ian Marchant, the chief executive of Scottish and Southern Energy, said this week that four large offshore wind farms need to be built every year in the UK for the next 12 years to meet renewable energy targets.

And John Hutton, the UK energy secretary, has already said he wants 22 GW-worth of turbines built offshore around the UK - the equivalent to about 6,000 of the largest turbines on the market, which measure more than 300ft tall.

But it remains to be seen how much interest there will be within the industry in building these in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has not set its own target for offshore wind power, but the energy minister, Jim Mather, insists that it will play a "vital role".

Jason Ormiston, the chief executive of Scottish Renewables, said the announcement from the Crown Estates provided some certainty for companies who were keen to invest hundreds of millions of pounds if they could get the rights to develop.

"It gives the green light to anyone with an interest in developing an offshore wind farm to make the case for developing that project in a particular area," he said.

But he thinks the interest in building offshore wind farms in Scotland may be limited.

"We have always assumed that the potential for offshore wind in Scotland is limited because of the continental shelf, which drops away very, very steeply. The technology at the moment really only accommodates shallow water development."

Nick Medic, from the British Wind Energy Association, agrees it could be more difficult to build wind farms off Scotland.

"The north part of the North Sea is much deeper and much choppier than the southern part, so the potential is not as big as in English waters."

But he still believes there will be suitable sites, which could include spots near Edinburgh, Aberdeen and off the coast of Fife.

"I have no doubt there will be offshore wind farms dotted around the coast of Scotland," he said. "Scotland's targets with renewables are very ambitious, especially as they exclude all impact from nuclear."

He said the Crown Estates was trying to garner how much interest there is from the sector, before exploring the potential of different sites.

"It's a very important announcement as it paves the way for the first step, which is expressions of interest."

Before specific sites are agreed by the Crown Estates, there will be consultations with the shipping and fishing industries, and with environmental bodies to decide what the impact of an offshore wind farm would be. They are aiming to allocate specific sites to companies by the end of the year. After this point, planning permission will be needed from the Scottish Government before work to build any offshore wind farms can begin.

Friends of the Earth Scotland predicts that, even though there would be potential to get 11.5GW of energy out of offshore power stations in Scotland, only 2.5GW will actually be built, partly due to technical difficulties.

"The waters in England are more shallow. This does mean that offshore wind in Scotland is likely to be more technologically difficult and expensive than offshore wind in England," said Duncan McLaren, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland. "If you are working in deeper waters it's bound to be more costly. But it should not be an obstacle that prevents offshore wind, and there's definitely capacity for it as part of a portfolio of renewable energy."

Andrew Jamieson, regulation and markets director for ScottishPower Renewables, welcomed the announcement by the Crown Estate and the Scottish Government. "I take my hat off to them in getting processes going. We will be looking very closely at it and expressing some sort of interest."

He thinks wind farms will be built offshore, but only in limited locations. "They can be built in appropriate locations. There will be pockets here and there, but it certainly won't be a case of circling the entire coast line."

Jim Mather, the Scottish minister for energy, said: "Offshore wind can play a vital role in Scotland's renewable future.

"We want to see more offshore turbines in appropriate locations around the Scottish coast, meaning that licences for individual sites is a key issue.

He added: "This is an area where we have been working closely with the Crown Estates, so I am delighted about this very positive announcement on offshore leasing."

PROFILE

THE first offshore wind turbines in the UK were built 15 miles off the coast of Scotland.

Two giant wind turbines have been constructed in the Moray Firth by Scottish and Southern Energy, in partnership with Talisman Energy.

Known as the Beatrice Demonstrator Project, it is a trial scheme to look into the viability of wind power in deep water off Scotland's coast.

If the GBP 35 million pilot is successful, the firms are expected to apply for planning permission for about 200 turbines to be added to the two already built in the Moray Firth.

The turbines have been built in challenging conditions - in water 148ft deep.

The companies say the aim of the project is to develop the technologies, techniques and processes to enable cost-effective installation and operation of large-capacity wind turbines offshore in deep water. Another 60 offshore turbines are in the process of being built in the Solway Firth. This GBP 325 million project by power company E.ON is expected to be completed by 2009.

However, the majority of offshore wind farms in the UK are set to be built in England.

Last week, Scottish and Southern Energy announced plans to invest GBP 1.3 billion in the Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm - the world's biggest - in the outer Thames estuary.

Offshore wind farms have also been approved for The Wash in East Anglia and Liverpool Bay.

If the UK energy minister John Hutton's aims to build 33GW-worth of wind turbines in the seas around Britain by 2020 are met this could mean wind power could supply the electricity needs of every home in Britain.

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