Posted on 07 July 2014. Tags: North Ireland, Onshore Wind
Proposals that the level of incentives for the small-scale onshore wind sector in Northern Ireland should remain at 4 ROCs until at least 2017 have been greeted with relief by the local industry.
The new announcement from Northern Ireland’s Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Arlene Foster follows a year-long review by the department into subsidies for renewable energy under the NI Renewables Obligation (NIRO).
While the proposal will be open for consultation until September, Philip Rainey, chief executive of the small-scale wind energy company Simple Power said today that he welcomed the news.
Mr Rainey said: “In her review, the minister recognises that small-scale wind development, in the form of single wind turbines, is one of the most straight-forward and accessible forms of renewable energy generation we have.
“Maintaining incentives at 4 ROCs will provide not only certainty, but also sufficient time for investment to take place and to provide a credible level of generating capacity.”
He added: “We believe the small-scale wind will play a very significant role in helping NI reach its renewables targets and in driving transformation of the local electricity market, providing energy security which will ultimately protect local consumers from rising fossil fuel prices now and in the future.”
The installation of a wind turbine on a farmer’s land can dramatically improve their business cash flow and viability, according to the professional services firm, PwC, which recently estimated that this sector could be worth at least £10 million a year to landowners and farmers across Northern Ireland over a 20-year period.
Posted in Wind Energy
Posted on 03 June 2014. Tags: Onshore Wind
New research that has been published by the Eskdalemuir Working Group (EWG) reveals the potential to install more than a gigawatt of onshore wind energy in Scotland in the years ahead – enough to power more than half a million British homes.
Welcoming the study today, RenewableUK chief executive Maria McCaffery said it provided a springboard for the UK’s wind energy industry to take another step forward.
She added: “It creates fresh opportunities to install new projects in a part of the country which enjoys excellent wind resources, without the prospect of automatic objections by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The EWG which includes representatives from governments and industry, commissioned the study to look at the safeguarding approach being used by the MoD at the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array in Dumfries and Galloway, which monitors compliance on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
It confirms that there is scope to allow further wind farm consents nearer the array than previously permitted. A more accurate way of calculating any vibrations from wind turbines in areas near the seismological monitoring station has been devised, and new data has been validated by the MoD.
This will allow the MoD to withdraw objections to some of the wind energy projects proposed within 50km of the array, with a 15km exclusion zone set to be approved by the Scottish government, following consultation.
Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing said: “The Eskdalemuir Working Group is a fantastic example of industry, government and the MoD working in partnership to resolve a major issue for the deployment of renewables.
“With potentially 1GW of renewable energy now freed to progress through planning, I’m delighted that Scotland can now benefit from further significant economic rewards from harnessing our natural resources, including the hundreds of jobs created and the knock-on benefits to local companies and communities.”
Posted in Wind Energy
