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Export of renewable energy a prospect for UK

harnessing just over 75% of the available offshore energy resource would produce enough renewable power for the UK to power its own economy and export excess electricity to northern Europe. “

The rise of British sea power, guardian.co.uk, 13 Oct 10, Investment in offshore renewable technologies is making the prospect of the UK becoming a net exporter of energy a real possibility* James Murray * guardian.co.uk “….. energy industry experts convinced offshore wind farms and marine energy parks could produce more power than the UK needs. Citing recent research from the government and the industry-backed Offshore Valuation Group, Huhne argued it was possible to re-establish the UK as a net producer of energy, as it was between 1994 and 2004 – only this time using clean and sustainable sources of energy.

The study found that harnessing just over 75% of the available offshore energy resource would produce enough renewable power for the UK to power its own economy and export excess electricity to northern Europe. “We have a resource that’s larger than we can use in the UK and to accrue value from that resource we have to export energy,” explains the report’s lead author Tim Helweg-Larsen. “We need a switch in mentality to realise this offshore energy is as valuable to the rest of Europe as it is to the UK.”

Plans for a ‘supergrid’

There are encouraging signs that both the energy industry and the government are beginning to understand the importance of linking Britain’s planned offshore energy parks with the continent. Last year, the UK joined with eight other countries to form the North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative – a new group dedicated to developing an nternational “supergrid” allowing countries across northern Europe to import and export renewable electricity…….
For Helweg-Larsen, the combination of offshore wind and marine energy has the potential to transform both the British economy and the wider European energy landscape. “The attraction of going offshore for energy is that we have this vast space and very strong winds,” he observes. “It is a massive challenge to tap that resource, but it is a challenge for politicians and industry because it is technically feasible.”…

Global Cleantech 100 | The rise of British sea power | Global Cleantech 100 | guardian.co.uk

October 13, 2010 - Posted by Christina MacPherson | renewable, UK | climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy