Clipper Windpower Plc (CWP.L) announced that its subsidiary, Clipper Windpower Marine Limited, was awarded £4.4million by the British government to assist in the development of wind turbine blades for a massive 10-megawatts (MW) prototype wind turbine.
The blades are for the “Britannia Project”, a 10-MW offshore wind turbine prototype under development by Clipper. Scheduled for deployment in late 2011, Clipper’s 10-MW wind turbine is among the world’s largest under development.
The funds are part of £120 million set aside for wind power development over the next two years, according to the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband.
The Britannia Project blade development is anticipated to take place at a new 4,000 square meters facility which Clipper expects to occupy on the River Tyne in the North East of England. Once constructed, each blade will be more than 70 meters long and weigh over 30 tons.
A fully operational Clipper 10 MW turbine will stand at 175 metres in height and, over its lifetime, is expected to displace the use of two million barrels of oil and offset the need to dispel 724,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the earth’s atmosphere.
As previously announced on 17th April 2008, The Crown Estate has agreed to purchase the Britannia prototype.
The Britannia turbine is under development in response to the UK Government policy supporting the deployment of offshore wind turbines as a key element of meeting part of its targets for renewable energy generation required by 2020. The Crown Estate is currently in the process of awarding a further 25 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind zones which are likely to enter construction during 2016.
According to MAKE Consulting, the offshore wind market is expected to grow by 45% from 2009 to 2015, as governments are pledging to support wind parks at sea.
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