Lord Truscott, parliamentary under secretary for energy for the UK government, has stated that harnessing the wind that whips across the sea around Britain will make a significant contribution to the UK’s renewable energy targets in future years.
The confident statement comes as the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) and Ofgem have launched a joint consultation on the licensing regime for the transmission of power from future offshore wind farms to the electricity networks.
The two government departments want to introduce a licensing system that will promote the development of a strong off-shore wind power industry that will involve a healthy commercial aspect.
As part of their consultation, the DTI and Ofgem will explore two proposed licensing systems: a non-exclusive system – enabling competition between many licensed transmission owners to provide offshore grid connections and an exclusive system – licensing a number of transmission owners in different areas to provide offshore grid connections.
The goal of the consultation is to establish a system that will deliver a successful and cost-effective integrated off-shore wind power infrastructure.
