Aberdeenshire-based offshore windpower company SeaEnergy said yesterday it was not immediately looking for a new partner for a project in the outer Tay estuary after RWE npower said it wished to pull out.
SeaEnergy said RWE npower – part of German utility RWE – had decided to back out because of the size of its other renewable commitments.
Joel Staadecker, who heads up SeaEnergy operating subsidiary SeaEnergy Renewables, said: “We don’t feel the need to bring another partner in at this stage.” He also said that SeaEnergy hoped to have a much more significant interest in the project once it concludes talks with the Crown Estate, which owns the seabed within 12 nautical miles of Britain’s coastline.
Mr Staadecker added: “We see that others will become involved at later stages but at this time we’re very happy at the prospect of the partnership with the Crown Estate.”
He said he hoped to conclude talks with the Crown Estate on setting up a memorandum of understanding for the Inch Cape site, which is about 10 miles off the Angus coastline, within the next six weeks.
Westhill-based SeaEnergy hopes to carry out studies into the feasibility of a 905 megawatt offshore wind farm at Inch Cape. It owns a 25% stake in the project.
The firm also has 25% stakes in two other offshore windpower projects, both in the Moray Firth, partnered by Perth-based utility Scottish and Southern Energy and Portuguese windpower specialist EDP Renovaveis.
Royal Dutch Shell says it plans to spend £1.4billion on upgrading and replacing gas-collection facilities in Nigeria to reduce flaring in one of the world’s largest wetlands.
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