Renewable Energy

The UK has the largest offshore wind resource in the world. With relatively shallow waters and strong winds extending to the North Sea, there is potential to power a country the size of France with offshore energy systems.

This potential for generation has never been more available with the emergence of new and improved technologies for offshore wind, tidal turbines, wave buoys, and tidal impoundments. Coupling this with a maturing investment market and increasingly informed legislation and processes for licensing, offshore energy is expected to be a major contributor towards the government's 2010 target for renewable power generation. In order to bring forward new sites, it is vital to adopt a clear, well considered and creative approach to planning.

With the release of the Crown Estate's Round 3 Offshore wind farm sites and the introduction of COWRIE (Collaborative Offshore Wind Research Into The Environment) reporting requirements, SeaZone is well placed to provide both the authoritative base reference data needed for site selection decisions, and data management advice and services to ensure mandatory compliance.

SeaZone is already working with leading energy and renewable energy organisations including npower renewables as described below.

npower renewables Case Study

npower renewables is one of the leading developers of renewable energy systems. Its North Hoyle project is the UK's first major offshore wind farm, located 7km off the North Wales coast. The site generates enough electricity to meet the demands of more than 40,000 households each year, offsetting the release of more than 160,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide year-on-year. npower is developing plans for two further sites that will have the combined capacity of around two gigawatts - the equivalent to powering 1.1 million homes. npower is now undertaking detailed plans to ensure it considers the effects that its operations might have on coastal communities, marine life and other people who use the sea. SeaZone Hydrospatial will play a pivotal role in preparing these plans.

Ben Barton, Offshore Data Manager for npower, said: “A comprehensive understanding of the coastal zone is essential to ensuring the right facility is developed, in the right place and with full consideration of the marine environment. Before using SeaZone Hydrospatial, npower had to rely on scanned paper charts that made decision-making confusing and fragmented. SeaZone Hydrospatial allows us to fully plan and manage the marine environment in a sustainable way - there are no information gaps and it is saving us a considerable amount of time and money.”

Commenting on the detail of SeaZone Hydrospatial, Ben added: “A wind farm does not stand in isolation and needs to be supported by a network of pipelines that connect to the National Grid. SeaZone Hydrospatial dataset enables us to fully understand the different water depths, underlying wind and wave conditions. The wrecks and obstructions database is also essential to identifying possible constraints on the seabed - within the immediate development area and along the export cable routes to shore. It is only after analyzing these considerations that we can start to make predictions about the potential generation that can be made.”

Helping to Make the Case

The promotion of offshore energy technologies needs to be balanced against environmental impacts. Lessons have been learnt from existing sites in the oil and gas sector where community consultation was limited and strongly criticised. npower is using SeaZone data to produce maps, graphics and visuals for public exhibition and consultation programmes. With six layers of data and mapping features, the company has the flexibility to produce a number of user-friendly charts for different purposes.

Ben concluded: “npower renewables needs to work in partnership with national and local government, neighbouring businesses and communities. SeaZone Hydrospatial is easy to interpret and compatible with all geographic information systems. This helps to save resources and the data acts as the linchpin for various decision-making workshops and presentations.”