Crown Estate to build hundreds of giant wind farms off Cornish coast
The first two wind farms will be built about 25 miles north of Padstow in Cornwall and a similar distance from Woolacombe, Devon, with hundreds likely to be visible from both on clear days.
A third wind farm, due west of the holiday island of Lundy, a bird reserve, is also planned with more to follow, the Crown Estate said.
However, the Crown Estate has so far failed to secure backing from UK investors for the project. The wind farm closest to Cornwall will be built by Equinor, Norway's state-owned energy giant.
The second, closer to the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales, will be built by EDF, France's state-owned electricity producer, in a joint venture with ESB, Ireland's state-owned power firm.
The two wind farms in Cornwall and Devon will each have a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts (GW). The largest floating wind turbines built so far have an output of about 8 megawatts (MW) so this suggests a total of 350 to 400 turbines.
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Daily Mail
38 minutes ago
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EXCLUSIVE Is THIS Britain's saddest seaside shopping centre? Locals say the once-bustling mall is now a 'ghost town' with just three shops left open and addicts prowling the precinct
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an hour ago
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an hour ago
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In Parliament earlier this week, Mr Smith said: 'A recent Freedom of Information request has revealed that, for a number of schemes, HMRC has settled with large corporations for just 15pc of what was owed. 'With the loan charge review ongoing, does the Chancellor agree with me that individuals should be treated no differently from the large corporations for which this precedent has been set?' Liberal Democrat MP Angus Macdonald, another APPG member, has tabled an Early Day motion – supported by 18 MPs so far – expressing 'astonishment' about the deals and the fact they have 'never been revealed to Parliament'. Mike Warburton, The Telegraph's tax columnist and former director at accountants Grant Thornton, said: 'These revelations have shown in stark contrast the way the Treasury and HMRC have treated large corporate taxpayers on the one hand and small contractors on the other.' 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Mr Smith, co-chairman of the Loan and Taxpayer Fairness APPG, said: 'It's absolutely staggering to discover that just a year before the loan charge was introduced to Parliament, that HMRC agreed a deal allowing large companies to settle for just 15pc of what HMRC said they owed, for use of similar arrangements.' He continued: 'Regardless of what Ray McCann recommends in his report on settlement terms, all those facing the loan charge and those pushed to settle to avoid it must all be offered no more than 15pc as full and final settlement.' HMRC said all settlements are agreed after considering the individual facts of each case and made under our published settlement terms. A spokesman said: 'We don't recognise these claims. We're absolutely committed to ensuring every taxpayer, regardless of size, pays the tax that's legally due. 'Given an independent review is under way it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.'
