Press Release

THE CROWN ESTATE ANNOUNCES NEW SITES FOR OFFSHORE WINDFARMS

18 December 2003

The Crown Estate has today announced the names of those developers who have successfully bid for new offshore windfarm sites. The sites located in the Thames Estuary, the Greater Wash and off the North West coast of England have a potential combined capacity of between 5.4 GW and 7.2 GW.

The successful developers were chosen through a competitive tender offered by The Crown Estate at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry in July of this year.

In its role as landowner of the UK seabed, The Crown Estate has offered the successful developers an option on the proposed sites. When they have obtained the necessary statutory planning consents from the DTI and DEFRA, developers will be granted a lease of between 40 and 50 years.  The developers now have until the 20 January 2004 to consider and accept the offers that have been made to them. The Crown Estate has no regulatory responsibility.

Frank Parrish, Head of the Marine Estate at The Crown Estate said, “We are very pleased to have completed this important step towards enabling the Government’s plans for greater renewable energy capacity to become a reality. We have been delighted by the overwhelming number and very high quality of bids we received, which demonstrate the industry’s confidence in the future of offshore windfarms. On acceptance of the offers we have made, the successful bidders can begin the wide scale consultation, technical studies and environmental assessment necessary to apply for the statutory consents they need.”

The Crown Estate was advised by Impax Capital Ltd on financial and economic aspects and Decommissioning Developing Consultants Ltd throughout the tendering process to help provide expert technical knowledge to assess the viability of the proposals presented.

The successful developers are:

Strategic Area: Thames

• Developer:Airtricity-Flour
• Site:Greater Gabbard
• Potential max MW:500
• Developer:Deltaic
• Site:Gunfleet Sands II
• Potential max MW:64
• Developer:London Array
• Site:London Array
• Potential max MW:1,000
• Developer:Warwick Energy
• Site:Thanet
• Potential max MW:300

Strategic Area: Greater Wash

• Developer:AMEC
• Site:Docking Shoal
• Potential max MW: 500
• Developer:AMEC
• Site:Race Bank
• Potential max MW:500
• Developer:Ecoventures
• Site:Sheringham
• Potential max MW:315
• Developer:Humber Wind Limited
• Site:Humber
• Potential max MW:300
• Developer:National Wind Power
• Site:Triton Knoll
• Potential max MW:1,200
• Developer:Offshore Wind Power
• Site:Lincs
• Potential max MW:250
• Developer:Total
• Site:Westernmost Rough
• Potential max MW:240
• Developer:Warwick Energy
• Site:Dudgeon East
• Potential max MW:300

Strategic Area: North West

• Developer:DONG / Statkraft
• Site: Walney
• Potential max MW:450
• Developer:National Wind Power
• Site:Gwynt y Mor
• Potential max MW:750
• Developer:Scottish Power
• Site:West Duddon
• Potential max MW:500

Notes to editors:

• Industry comment can be obtained from the British Wind Energy Association on 020 7689 1960. BWEA is at the heart of wind energy activity in the UK. The trade and professional body for the industry, BWEA membership now stands at 293 companies active in the sector, making BWEA the UK's largest renewable energy body. For further information visit www.bwea.com