UK has signed up to offshore grid
The UK is among nine countries which have signed up to develop an integrated offshore grid in the North and Irish Seas today. £5 million of new grants were awarded for offshore wind technology research and a Renewable Energy Expert Chair was appointed by the government.
In the Energy Council meeting held in Brussels, the Energy and Climate Change Minister Lord Hunt, signed the agreement along with other ministers from France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland.
The grid will be across European waters, making supplies of electricity more secure for the nine countries, it will be easier to optimise offshore wind electricity production. Also helping the EU as a whole to meet its renewable energy target for 2020.
Lord Hunt wants to create more jobs for the economy and feels signing up to this will be better for the current climate, he said: "We’re already the world leader in offshore wind here in the UK and today’s announcements bring new funding and expert direction to grow this vital new industry. They also mean we can work with other countries in the EU to increase our renewable energy supplies.”
He also announced that the next round of Low Carbon Energy demonstration capital grants for Vestas, Clipper and Mitsubishi. The government will grant Vestas £1.75 million, as will the South East England Development Agency, in addition to its already awarded £6 million.
Because of this high grant, Vestas have announced they will create around 400 new civil engineering jobs by 2011, by opening a new research and development facility on the Isle of Wight.