ScottishPower Renewables has agreed a 2016 sponsorship agreement with the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) for five important industry events in East Anglia this year.

The deal comes on the back of ScottishPower Renewables’ final investment decision for the East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm, which will see the £2.5 billion project go in to construction in 2017. The company also recently announced that it will fund four scholarship places at the University of East Anglia for postgraduate students keen to continue their studies in energy engineering and environmental studies.

The ScottishPower Renewables sponsorship kicks off with EEEGR’s flagship Southern North Sea (SNS) conference (2-3 March). Taking place at the Norfolk Showground in Norwich, this is the most important conference for the offshore energy sector in the East of England. It will be the largest conference and exhibition EEEGR has ever delivered, attracting upwards of 500 delegates from across the industry and supply chain. Key industry players will gather at this event to discuss and debate opportunities and issues, as well as networking with new and existing business contacts.

Other future events include a Skills event, delivered through EEEGR’s Skills for Energy programme, an East Anglia ONE Supply Chain event and EEEGR’s House of Commons reception.

Charlie Jordan, ScottishPower Renewables East Anglia ONE project director, comments: “Over the past year we have held a number of successful supply chain events across the region in conjunction with EEEGR so it seemed a very natural progression to formalise our commitment with this sponsorship.

“We have been really impressed at the number of people attending the EEEGR events and feel this is a great way for us to showcase East Anglia ONE and the subsequent three windfarms ScottishPower Renewables is planning to build off the East coast. It also gives us a great opportunity to meet with an array of potential suppliers and demonstrate the company’s long term commitment to East Anglia and its economic prosperity, as the region offers the best opportunity for offshore wind in the UK.”

Simon Gray, EEEGR CEO, comments: “We’re delighted ScottishPower Renewables is sponsoring these important events; East Anglia ONE is just the start of ScottishPower Renewables’ plans for the East Anglia Zone so the company will play a significant part in the future of the East of England energy industry.”

David Rowland, ScottishPower Renewables’ new business director, has also joined EEEGR’s board of directors. Using his significant industry experience David will work with the board to shape the future direction and success of EEEGR and the energy sector in the East of England.

For further information please contact Sophie Fraser or Kate Bowden Smith
Tel: 01394 276923 or email eaone@pier-marketing.com

About East Anglia ONE:

East Anglia ONE will see around 102 wind turbines installed in the southern North Sea, approx. 26 miles off the coast. The overall investment will be in the region of £2.5 billion, and the project is planned to meet the annual electricity demands of the equivalent of 500,000^* homes.

Construction is planned to commence in 2017, with the first turbines installed by 2019, and hopes that the project will be fully operational during 2020.
East Anglia ONE Offshore Windfarm project is likely to include:

• Offshore wind turbines and foundations (102 wind turbines to provide an installed capacity of 714 megawatts).
• An offshore substation to collect the electricity from the turbines and transform it to a form suitable for transfer to shore.
• Two offshore export cables, each around 85 km in length, to transfer the electricity to shore.
• A landfall site with onshore transition pits to connect the offshore and onshore cables.
• Six onshore underground cables, each of around 37 km in length, to transfer the electricity from landfall to an onshore converter station.
• An onshore substation adjacent to the existing substation at Bramford, Suffolk, to connect the offshore windfarm to the National Grid.

* Calculated taking the number of megawatts (1,200) multiplied by the number of hours in one year (8,766), multiplied by the average load factor for offshore wind for 2014 (most up to date figure available) (34.88 %, published by the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics), divided by the average annual household energy consumption.