From today's Telegraph. Trust the DTI to muck things up! - and we taxpayers are keeping them in well-paid jobs!
Eclipse wind and gas bid is all at sea
By Sylvia Pfeifer
Last Updated: 11:53pm GMT 30/12/2006
Plans to build the world's first offshore hybrid energy plant, which could power more than 155,000 homes, have been blown off course by the Government's protracted planning process.
Eclipse Energy, an innovative renewable energy company, wants to generate power from two gas fields and an adjacent 30-turbine wind farm off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria.
The company submitted its planning application for the "Ormonde project" to the Department of Trade & Industry 18 months ago but is still awaiting a decision. Official guidelines indicate that it should take between six and nine months for projects to be assessed.
Industry executives have long been critical of the Government's planning system, which they believe to be at odds with its target of generating 20 per cent of the UK's electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
The Government gave the green light for two major wind developments off the coast of Kent before Christmas, including the London Array, which will be the world's biggest offshore wind farm. The planning application for the project was submitted in June 2005.
It is understood that Eclipse had hoped for a decision on the much smaller Ormonde project at the same time. It is believed that recent concerns raised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and English Nature have been resolved and that there are no outstanding issues.
The company raised £5m from institutional investors last year to help fund the project but is concerned that any further delay could deter future investors. Ian Hatton, the managing director of Eclipse, said: "Investors have a choice where to put their money. If things take too long, they can put their money elsewhere."
A spokesman for the DTI said: "It is important that the DTI considers the impact that offshore wind farms will have on the marine environment, navigational safety and other marine users. . . The Government recognises the planning system can be streamlined. There will be a planning White Paper in the spring as well as an energy White Paper. Both will look at ways of improving the efficiency of the planning system for energy infrastructure."
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