PRESS RELEASE, December 18th 2009

Dudgeon Offshore Wind Limited (DOW), a subsidiary of Warwick Energy Limited, has today applied for planning permission to construct and operate the onshore facilities needed for the proposed Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm (Dudgeon) project. The request covers the buried cable system and onshore substation needed to allow the electricity generated to enter the electricity transmission network.

The proposed onshore cable route runs for approximately 45km in a south westerly direction from the landfall at Weybourne Hope on the north Norfolk coast to the substation site located to the south of Little Dunham in the Breckland District of Norfolk.

The Dudgeon site, where the offshore wind turbines will be deployed, is located 32km offshore from Cromer. Consent for the offshore elements of the project have already been requested from both the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It is hoped that, subject to all consents being granted, the wind farm may commence generation by late 2013. The project could generate up to 560MW and make a significant contribution towards the UK’s renewable energy targets.

Planning applications for the onshore electrical connection for the Dudgeon project have now been lodged with North Norfolk District Council and Breckland Council for their consideration.  Accompanying the planning applications is a full Environmental Statement (ES) regarding these onshore elements of the project. The ES draws on the results of the environmental surveys and studies that DOW has commissioned and concludes that overall, the development will not have a significant impact on the local environment.

In relation to the onshore electrical connection, DOW held public exhibitions in Fakenham, Necton and Holt in November 2009. The main purposes of the exhibitions were to increase public awareness of the project; identify any particular concerns that the general public might have; and to answer questions on a face to face basis. DOW has been very encouraged by the general level of local support for the project to date and this was confirmed from the questionnaire returns at the exhibitions where 69% of people supported the specific onshore proposals, 23% were undecided and only 8% of people were against these proposals.

The full Dudgeon project is expected to cost around £1.3bn; save up 40 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over its expected 50 year life; and could provide more than 0.5% of the UK’s annual electricity needs. The project could create many temporary jobs during the construction phase and up to 30 full time jobs thereafter.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The project would include up to 168 wind turbines producing enough electricity on average to supply up to 400,000 homes with green electricity, approximately the same number of households that exist in the county of Norfolk. The total extent of the wind farm site is 35km2.

 

• Copies of the ES will be made available for viewing by members of the public at District and County Council offices. Copies will be sent to each Parish Council affected and additional copies of the full ES on CD may be obtained from the Company's Registered Office for a charge of £25. Copies of the Non Technical Summary are also available, free of charge, when requested from the Company's Registered Office or can be downloaded from the Warwick Energy website at www.warwickenergy.com

• The public exhibitions, conducted in November 2009, were attended by 321 people of whom 154 (48%) completed a questionnaire, either at the exhibitions or afterwards by post, which provided feedback to the scheme. Analysis of the reasons given from the people with initial concerns about the onshore proposals revealed that most were based on the potential visual and noise impacts of the substation; possible impact on local environment; and the level of traffic during the construction phase. It is believed that the ES demonstrates that any such impacts as a consequence of the development will not be significant.

 

• The consent applications for the offshore elements of the Dudgeon project were lodged with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in June 2009 and are still being considered.

• Initial discussions with potential construction contractors are now commencing for the main components of the Dudgeon project. Subject to all necessary consents being granted by the summer of 2010, DOW intends to sign all main construction contracts by the end of 2010. Onshore construction activity would then commence in early 2011 allowing the full project to be completed by the end of 2013.

 

• It is expected that electricity generation from offshore wind farms, such as this one at Dudgeon, will make a significant contribution towards the UK’s target of producing 20% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.

• Warwick Energy’s wind farm project at Dudgeon is one of 15 such projects that were awarded licenses by the Crown Estate as a national second Round of offshore wind projects.

 

• The Dudgeon area holds the potential for a second stage of development which could more than double the output currently proposed. The planning requests for the onshore works submitted today take into account this possible additional activity to ensure that communities are aware of the maximum possible impact.

• Warwick Energy Limited is a UK developer of a range of energy projects and has previously been responsible for the development of the 90MW Barrow offshore wind farm (in operation since 2006) and the 300MW Thanet offshore wind farm (currently under construction).

 

Contacts:         Mark Petterson            Director, Warwick Energy      01789 471091
                       

Warwick Energy Limited, Wellesbourne House, Wellesbourne, Warwickshire CV35 9JB