Hochtief, Siemens and RES Group among those to sign government agreements to take proposals through planning
A raft of energy developers have been named as the successful bidders for the latest nine offshore wind power plants to be brought forward by the government.
The development consortiums, which include construction and engineering firms Hochtief, Siemens and the RES Group, have signed exclusive Zone Development Agreements with The Crown Estate to take the proposals through the planning and consenting phase.
The Crown Estate has responsibility for renewable energy in UK waters, and the latest contracts are the third round of schemes to be brought forward.
The move is part of the government鈥檚 bid to see 20% of energy from low-carbon sources by 2020.
Prime minister Gordon Brown said the offshore wind industry could generate 拢75bn annually by 2020 and support 70,000 jobs.
He added: 鈥淥ur policies in support of offshore wind energy have already put us ahead of every other country in the world. This new round of licences provides a substantial new platform for investing in UK industrial capacity.
Climate secretary Ed Miliband said: 鈥淥ur island has one of the best wind energy resources in Europe and today鈥檚 news shows we鈥檙e creating the right conditions for the energy industry to invest in harnessing it. This is one of the strongest signals yet that the UK is locked irreversibly into a low carbon, energy secure prosperous future.鈥
The Crown Estate said offshore wind developers were claiming to be able to deliver 32 gigawatts of power through offshore wind farms 鈥 a quarter of the UK鈥檚 energy requirement.
The Crown Estate is to hold a series of supply chain events across the UK in January, February and March to support the delivery of this growth industry.
Developers who have signed exclusivity zone agreements
Moray Firth Zone - Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd which is 75% owned by EDP Renovaveis and 25% owned by SeaEnergy Renewables 鈥 1.3 GW
Firth of Forth Zone - SeaGreen Wind Energy Ltd equally owned by SSE Renewables and Fluor 鈥 3.5 GW
Dogger Bank Zone - the Forewind Consortium equally owned by each of SSE Renewables, RWE Npower Renewables, Statoil and Statkraft 鈥 9 GW
Hornsea Zone - Siemens Project Ventures and Mainstream Renewable Power, a consortium equally owned by Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens Project Ventures and involving Hochtief Construction 鈥 4 GW
Norfolk Bank Zone - East Anglia Offshore Wind Ltd equally owned by Scottish Power Renewables and Vattenfall Vindkraft 鈥 7.2 GW
Hastings Zone - Eon Climate and Renewables UK 鈥 0.6 GW
West of Isle of Wight Zone - Eneco New Energy 鈥 0.9 GW
Bristol Channel Zone - RWE Npower Renewables, the UK subsidiary of RWE Innogy 鈥 1.5 GW
Irish Sea Zone - Centrica Renewable Energy and involving RES Group 鈥 4.2 GW
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