Pioneering wave farm approved

The Press Association
Mon, 17 Sep 07

The Government will give planning approval for the world's first large scale wave farm off the UK coast. It means the £28 million project, developed by the South West of England Regional Development Agency (RDA), has cleared the last major regulatory hurdle.

Funding for the project off Cornwall - a giant seabed electric socket - has already been approved by the RDA. The consent announcement will be made by John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Chairman of the RDA, Juliet Williams, said: "This announcement is a huge step forward for Wave Hub. It is a vote of confidence in the RDA's ability to create a groundbreaking renewable energy project in South West England that will lead the world in the development of wave energy technology."

Wave Hub is a world first and will include an onshore substation connected to electrical equipment on the seabed about 10 miles off Hayle via an under-sea cable. Companies developing wave energy technology will be able to plug into Wave Hub to test their wave energy devices on a scale never seen anywhere before. Four companies have already been chosen to use Wave Hub.

A new independent economic impact assessment, commissioned by the RDA, has shown that Wave Hub could create 1,800 jobs and £560 million in the UK economy over 25 years. Almost 1,000 of these jobs and £332 million would be generated in the South West of England.

Wave Hub could generate enough electricity for 7,500 homes, directly saving 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over 25 years. This would support the South West's target for generating 15% of the region's power from renewable sources by 2010.

The consent announcement has been welcomed by Maria McCaffery, chief executive of the British Wind Energy Association, the trade and professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries.