RenewableUK has welcomed today’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on wind energy by the Energy Secretary Edward Davey and his Irish counterpart Pat Rabbitte.
The MoU is the first step towards reaching a full inter-Governmental agreement on exporting clean electricity from onshore wind farms in Ireland to the UK via undersea cables by 2020.
RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive Maf Smith said:
“This signing marks the start of an ambitious project which could bring enormous economic and environmental gains for both countries. It’s worth noting that the Memo specifically states that the costs and benefits for both countries are being closely analysed at every stage by both Governments to ensure mutual advantages.
“As well as keeping our electricity bills down, major initiatives like this create significant opportunities for British companies to help build infrastructure – manufacturing and laying undersea cables for example.
“Take a look at a company like Mabey Bridge in Chepstow, which makes onshore wind turbine towers. They’ve been so busy fulfilling orders that they introduced round-the clock working to meet demand. Thriving companies like this are looking not just to the domestic market, but also to export. That’s why the British wind energy industry is expected to employ more than 76,000 workers by 2021, including the rapidly-expanding supply chain.
“Connecting supplies between countries also gives us the opportunity to feed more electricity from renewable sources into the grid at any one time, so that we can cut down on the amount of expensive old-school fossil fuels we have to import. Eventually, we hope that interconnectors between countries will be developed to their full potential across Europe. We can’t control the international price of gas, but we know exactly how cost-effective wind energy is, so it’s in everyone’s interest to ensure this goes ahead as part of moves to put in place interconnection across the continent.”
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Press release, January 24, 2013; Image: londonarray