The Galloper wind farm

[sailorman]

[h=1]Galloper offshore wind farm developer pulls out of scheme[/h]

The Galloper wind farm was to have been next to the Great Gabbard wind farm and was expected to be finished by 2017
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An energy firm has pulled out of a wind farm scheme that promised hundreds of jobs in Suffolk.
Top five energy company RWE has stopped work on the Galloper wind farm because of difficulties in raising finance in time to meet government rules.
Up to 85 turbines were to have been built 18 miles (30km) off the coast, bringing power to 330,000 homes.
RWE said after a partner pulled out it could not meet finance deadlines to win government approval for a contract.
Galloper's partner Scottish and Southern Electricity (SSE) pulled out in March.
The project was backed by the Green Investment Bank and RWE reported "positive investor interest and supplier support".
'Postponement not cancellation'

Preparations had been made for operations at the port of Lowestestoft where supply vessels would be based
Hundreds of skilled workers were to have been based at ABP Port of Lowestoft and preparations had been made for electricity to come ashore at Sizewell.
RWE said: "We are disappointed to announce the decision not to continue with Galloper due to the tight timescales to secure financing whilst achieving accreditation under the Renewable Obligation.
"This results in an unacceptable balance of risk and reward."
ABP Port of Lowestoft declined to comment on the loss of job opportunities.
Lowestoft Conservative MP Peter Aldous said he was disappointed but regarded the decision as a postponement and hoped another energy firm would take over the scheme.
"Galloper has got planning permissions, is in shallow water with no environmental or geological concerns and is the best place for an offshore wind farm.
"When SSE pulled out it became a race against time for RWE to get the finance and supply chain organisation together to secure a contract from the Department of Energy and Climate Change."
The Department of Energy and Climate Change and Waveney District Council are expected to comment later.

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

Looks like the Golden Goose has stopped laying...

 

[sailorman]

Yes but only after wrecking the Southern North Sea

 

[Gargleblaster]

Yes but only after wrecking the Southern North Sea

I rather like them not for their ability to produce electricity, but in my humble opinion they have added more interest to the Thames Estuary. At night I find their lights quite magical and sometimes a handy 'star' to steer by. And unlike the oil platforms in the North Sea that seem to be sited a little more randomly they seem to occupy only the shallows where I generally don't sail.

It used to be that you would leave North Foreland behind and not see anything until Clacton appeared above the horizon, now there is always something to look at.

 

[sailorman]

I rather like them not for their ability to produce electricity, but in my humble opinion they have added more interest to the Thames Estuary. At night I find their lights quite magical and sometimes a handy 'star' to steer by. And unlike the oil platforms in the North Sea that seem to be sited a little more randomly they seem to occupy only the shallows where I generally don't sail.

It used to be that you would leave North Foreland behind and not see anything until Clacton appeared above the horizon, now there is always something to look at.

Now they are erected in deeper waters we have to sail around them

 

[Koeketiene]

It used to be that you would leave North Foreland behind and not see anything until Clacton appeared above the horizon, now there is always something to look at.

A matter of personal preference, I feel.
I for one deplore the trend of wind farm proliferation. When heading from Ipswich to Ramsgate this summer we were never 'alone' - never our of sight of a wind farm or some other man made construction.
Similarly, when sailing from Ipswich to Ostend: not so long ago, you were on your own as soon as you left the Sunk behind you. Now you're in sight of one wind farm or another till you hit the TSS.
I find it hugely relaxing when you have that feeling that you're out there 'alone'.

 

[Athene V30]

I rather like them not for their ability to produce electricity, but in my humble opinion they have added more interest to the Thames Estuary. At night I find their lights quite magical and sometimes a handy 'star' to steer by. And unlike the oil platforms in the North Sea that seem to be sited a little more randomly they seem to occupy only the shallows where I generally don't sail.

I couldnt see the nav lights to safely go through Foulger's Gat at night at the end of May because there was so much stray light from the supposedly unlit turbines.

Having not fitted a chart plotter (yet) I didnt feel it prudent to DR blindly into shallowing water to find a mark that I knew 'should' be there!!

 

[PeterWright]

I for one deplore the trend of wind farm proliferation.
I find it hugely relaxing when you have that feeling that you're out there 'alone'.

+1 on both those thoughts.

I believe it was also you who wrote somewhere recently that the best part of any sail is when you shut the engine down - another feeling I share.