Array goes awry
by Charlie Peverett in At home on 02.05.08
The rather fine turbine image was taken in the Thames Estuary.
Looks a bit lonely doesn’t it?
Well, it was due to be joined by a few more - 341 more to be precise, as part of the London Array.
Touted as the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, the Array’s backers say it could power a quarter of London’s homes.
But now that’s all up in the air. Shell has said it’s seeking to sell its stake in the project, leaving fellow investors with a funding gap in the region of £670 million.
Project partner E.ON has suggested that this could jeopardise the entire scheme - which, it says, is already beset by rising steel prices and a ‘bottleneck’ in supply of the mammoth turbines.
Together with last week’s scuppering of the massive Lewis wind farm, it looks like a pretty sorry week for the UK’s renewable energy targets.
Turbine or not turbine?
But perhaps there’s no need to rush.
Scientists have said this week that a natural cycle of ‘global cooling’ may serve to counteract global warming over the next decade.
It means we could see a lull in the succession of temperature rises we’ve seen in recent times, before the world’s thermometer starts climbing again.
Who knows? Perhaps if oil isn’t quite so profitable by then we’ll see some investment going back into renewables.
Anyone want to wait until then to find out if it works?
IMAGE by Flickr user phault
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