California energy giant Clipper Windpower, Plc (www.clipperwind.com) has chosen Blyth, Northumberland in the United Kingdom as the site for a new generation of offshore wind turbines, North England Inward Investment Agency (NEIIA) has announced.

Called the “Britannia Project,” the $65 million development program advances Clipper turbine technology to a 7.5 MW wind turbine scale which will be among the largest and most powerful offshore turbines in the world. With a 30-year design life, it will generate electricity equivalent of one million barrels of oil.

North England’s Centre of Excellence for New and Renewable Energy (NaREC) will provide engineering, testing and development services in support of the project. NaREC is one of five centres of excellence set up by One NorthEast, a government agency responsible for economic development and growth for the North East region of England.
James G. P. Dehlsen, Chairman and CEO of Clipper, said: “We established the Project in support of the U.K. Government’s ambitious plans to generate more than 20% of the country’s electricity from renewable sources. This is both a responsible and necessary endeavor considering growing worldwide concerns over global warming and climate change.”

“We are also very pleased with the capability of the local area which provides excellent regional university capability for support of offshore wind technology development, particularly through the NaREC and the Marine Design Centre's expertise in marine technology and science,” he added.

Securing the investment from Clipper – which has offices across the USA, Mexico and mainland Europe – is a major coup for NEIIA which is the North American marketing arm of One NorthEast.

“We have worked with Clipper for more than two years, putting together a significant package of support for this project,” said Sean Croson, NEIIA’s Vice President, West Coast. “Our region has the engineering, research and development and manufacturing expertise to make this happen.”

He noted that NaREC’s team of consultants have practical experience across a range of renewable energy areas, including supporting marine renewables, offshore and subsea equipment, micro-renewables and high voltage electrical equipment.

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