ESB/RED ROCK PRESS RELEASE
- Offshore wind farm poised to play key role in Scotland’s green economic recovery and become one of the country’s largest single sources of renewable energy
Issued: 10:00, Sunday 8 November 2020, under strict embargo until 00:01 Monday 9 November 2020
ESB has joined with Edinburgh-based Red Rock Power Limited to form a 50:50 joint venture for Inch Cape Offshore Limited, a large wind farm development off the east coast of Scotland.
The Red Rock Power – ESB partnership will harness both companies’ wealth of expertise within the wind energy sector and support their mutual growth ambitions as they continue to strengthen their respective UK wind portfolios, with the potential to collaborate on other projects in the future.
As well as powering around 700,000 homes and supporting both the UK and Scottish Governments’ net-zero targets, Inch Cape is poised to play a key role in a green economic recovery through the creation of skilled jobs and opportunities for the local supply chain.
Jim Dollard, Executive Director Generation and Trading at ESB (pictured in image attached at virtual signing ceremony), welcomed the announcement. “We look forward to pooling our expertise and experience with a partner of the calibre of Red Rock Power to deliver the Inch Cape project. With consent for up to one gigawatt and 72 turbines, this is a milestone investment in offshore wind for ESB and our ambition to lead the transition to a low-carbon future. This builds on similar partnerships ESB has with leading renewable energy companies in developing offshore wind projects off the coast of Ireland and Great Britain.”
ESB, through its Brighter Future strategy to lead the transition to a low carbon future, has ramped up its investment and expertise in offshore wind generation, one of the main technologies underpinning the clean electricity systems that will power our societies into the future.
Guy Madgwick, Red Rock Power Limited CEO (pictured in image attached at virtual signing ceremony), said: “Inch Cape will, without a doubt, make a considerable impact on the country’s clean energy targets and create significant opportunities to support a green economic recovery. We look forward to working alongside our colleagues at ESB on the project and to applying synergies within our teams to drive the development forward to a successful build.”
Inch Cape is set to be constructed 15km off the Angus Coast in the East of Scotland and to become one of the country’s largest single sources of renewable energy. The project recently received approval to increase its capacity to up to one gigawatt having already secured both onshore and offshore consents in 2019. The wind farm will connect into the national grid at Cockenzie in East Lothian.
Scotland’s Energy Minister, Paul Wheelhouse, said: “Offshore wind in Scotland’s 462,000 square kilometres of waters will play a vital part in achieving our net zero ambitions while helping to drive a strong, green economic recovery. Inch Cape has the potential to significantly contribute to this recovery, to help deliver Scotland’s net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 and to support the Scottish supply chain. Therefore I welcome the partnership between Red Rock and ESB as the project moves forward to the next phase.
“Our seas are host to some of the best offshore wind resources in the world, supporting the continuing growth and expansion of the sector. We want to harness this huge resource for our energy system, unlocking significant investment in the supply chain to create more green jobs across the sector and support the wider decarbonisation of our energy system, including electrification of transport and heat.”
Madgwick added: “We sought a partner who shared our passion for renewable energy, supporting UK industry growth and tackling climate change. We are excited to be working with ESB and for the potential to collaborate on other projects in the future as we continue to expand our company both in the UK and across Europe.”
ENDS/
Notes to Editors
Media enquiries to:
ESB – Paul Hand, paul.hand@esb.ie/ 085 7256798 (Ireland) or 0345 6013372 (UK)
Red Rock Power – Laura-Jane Cameron laura-jane.cameron@redrockpower.co.uk / 07716227296 or Grayling redrockpower@grayling.com
Inch Cape Current Status
The Inch Cape team, led by Project Director, Adam Ezzamel, have spent recent months reviewing its development strategy in light of the Covid pandemic and considering opportunities to lower the cost of energy while maximising the amount of clean electricity the wind farm will generate.
The team look forward to engaging with key stakeholders, supply chain and the wider industry to share more information on Inch Cape’s detailed design, updated timescales and estimated benefits to the economy in due course.
About ESB:
ESB operates across the electricity market on the island of Ireland: from generation, through transmission and distribution to the supply of customers with an expanding presence across Great Britain. In 2017 ESB opened an office in Glasgow to spearhead further development of renewables, in particular onshore and offshore wind, across Scotland. ESB is the owner of the distribution and transmission networks in the Republic of Ireland (via ESB Networks) and Northern Ireland (via Northern Ireland Electricity Networks Ltd). In the first half of 2020, the company had a 25% share of generation in the all-island market (via Generation and Wholesale Markets) and a 36% share of electricity supply in the all-island market (via Electric Ireland) with 1.4 million customer accounts.
About Red Rock Power:
Red Rock Power Limited – headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland – is an investor, owner and operator of renewable and sustainable energy projects. As well as Inch Cape, its UK wind portfolio currently includes 50MW Afton operational onshore windfarm in East Ayrshire and a 25% share of Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm in the Moray Firth.
The company is actively pursuing development and acquisition opportunities to grow its existing UK wind portfolio including offshore wind assets, as well as expanding into other European markets and sustainable energy sectors.
Red Rock Power Limited is a wholly-owned UK subsidiary of SDIC Power Holdings Co. Ltd, based in Beijing. SDIC Power, is listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange, and is a significant developer and operator of power generation plants in China and overseas. SDIC Power owns a total installed capacity of 34.27GW, more than half of which is generated from renewable energy installations.
For more information visit www.redrockpower.co.uk
________________________
This email press release has been sent to you by Paul Hand from ESB.
To unsubscribe and no longer receive these press releases use links below
If you no longer wish to receive press releases from only Paul Hand Unsubscribe
If you no longer wish to receive press releases from anybody at ESB Unsubscribe