Offshore Wind Turbine Testing
Anyone who saw a white cargo ship anchored in Brodick Bay last month, piled high with what looked like enormous, tapering tubes, may have wondered what was going on. In fact, the deck cargo was wind turbine blades, destined for an offshore wind energy testing facility to be installed in the sea near Hunterston.
Scottish and Southern Energy is currently working on the new testing facility as an extension of its Glasgow-based Centre of Engineering Excellence for Renewable Energy (CEERE). In partnership with Clydeport and leading turbine suppliers, up to three prototypes of the next generation of offshore wind turbines will be tested to see which gives the best results in terms of quietness and efficiency.
Kenneth Gibson, the Arran SNP candidate for the coming election, said, ‘This is excellent news for North Ayrshire.’ He pointed to the fact that Doosan Power in Renfrewshire has recently announced 1,700 new jobs in renewable energy, and revealed that Clydeport has sought a seven-figure grant from the SNP Government. Mr Gibson supported the application. He said, ‘Development of the Hunterston site is backed by Scottish Enterprise and has strong interest from a number of turbine manufacturers. The creation of such a manufacturing facility will provide significant gains for the local, North Ayrshire and Scottish economies.’ He continued, ‘CEERE is already attracting leading players in the renewable energy sector to Scotland and creating hundreds of new, highly skilled jobs. This new facility will establish North Ayrshire as a centre of expertise for offshore wind and play a crucial part in Scotland achieving its renewable energy goals.’
Mr Gibson gave an assurance that local communities will be fully consulted on the detail of these proposals, and added, ‘The continuous development of offshore wind technologies is essential to reduce the cost of establishing offshore wind farms and improve offshore operational efficiency. The new facility will ensure that the new generation of turbines will show a significant improvement on anything currently available.’
