§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary a of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on recent trends in investment in renewable energy and the effect of those trends upon residents of Crosby. [160570]
§ Mr. TimmsI have been asked to reply.
Recent trends in renewable energy investment have been highly encouraging. More new capacity has been constructed in the last few years than in the previous decade, and a significant amount is currently in the pipeline. This covers a wide range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and biomass.
While this investment has not translated into capacity within Crosby itself there are several wind farm developments, both constructed and proposed, in the surrounding area. The first of these is the 3.6 MW 6 turbine wind farm at Seaforth Docks. It was constructed in 1999 and is roughly three miles from Crosby. The second is the North Hoyle offshore wind farm, which is located around 20–25 miles from Crosby and was opened in November 2003.
There are also two proposed developments for offshore wind farms relatively near to Crosby. The first of these is the 30 turbine Burbo Bank offshore wind farm, it is due to being constructed in 2005 and will be situated around 5–6 miles out to sea from Crosby.
The second is the Gwynt-y-Mor site, which has been awarded a licence under round two of the offshore wind programme and would be located around 15–20 miles from Crosby. The award of a site licence option is only the first step in the development of this wind farm, however, it is hoped that it will be completed by 2010.