A 315MW offshore wind farm known as Sheringham Shoal has received consent from the UK Government Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). This consent, known as Section 36, means the developer, joint-venture company Scira Offshore Energy Ltd, is a step closer to constructing the wind farm on the 35 km2 site in the Greater Wash. It is now just awaiting the investment decision from its majority-owner, StatoilHydro.
“This consent is a major progression for the project and shows that the UK Government is committed to its target of producing 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020,” said Anne S. Lycke, Head of Wind Energy at StatoilHydro and Chairman of Scira. Scira Offshore Energy Ltd is 55% owned by StatoilHydro headquartered in Norway, and 45% owned by Dutch company Evelop - a subsidiary of sustainable energy company Econcern.
The StatoilHydro management board will make the final investment decision on the project before the end of this year. If sanctioned, construction will begin in 2009 with the wind farm being operational in 2011.
The proposed wind farm will consist of 88 turbines with an annual electricity production of around 1.1TWh, which is enough energy to power around 220,000 UK homes.

Jaap Roos, Scira Board Member and Director of Evelop International says: “The North Sea is a vast energy resource. If the UK is going to realise its ambitions for clean energy this potential must be realised. This project is a major step for the UK receiving clean energy.”