The Engineer on-line: UK - Relaxing constraints on off shore Wind farm regulation to cut euro 20 billion from costs

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UK - Relaxing constraints on off shore Wind farm regulation to cut euro 20 billion from costs

Relaxing the constraints that dictate where offshore wind farms can be built could cut £16bn from the overall cost of developing offshore wind, according to a new report from The Carbon Trust. Applying all the current constraints would require the UK’s next round of offshore wind farms to be built at great expense 70 miles from the shore and in deep waters. But allowing wind farms to be built nearer to the shore and in shallower waters could enable 29GW of offshore wind farms to be built by 2020. This, the trust argues, would help the UK meet renewable energy targets, cut carbon emissions by 14 per cent, create 70,000 new jobs and bolster energy security.

Tom Delay, chief executive of The Carbon Trust, an independent company set up by the UK government in response to the threat of climate change, said: 'If we are to meet our 2020 renewable targets we need a dash for wind on a comparable scale to the dash for gas of the 1990s. ‘Slashing the costs of offshore wind must now be a priority for UK energy policy.