Centrica – An Energy Utility Perspective

Gearόid LaneDirector, British Gas New Energy29th April 2009

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The World at Night - 1970

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The World at Night - 2000

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The Energy Trilemma

Environ. & carbon

Security of

Supply

Cost to Public

Coal

Renewables

EnergyEfficiency

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Centrica’s Current Portfolio

Onshore

• Glens of Foudland 26MW

• Braes of Doune 72MW

(50% JV – Airtricity)

Offshore

Round 1

• Barrow Offshore Wind 90MW

(50% JV - DONG Energy)

• Lynn 90MW

• Inner Dowsing 90MW

Round 2

• Lincs 250MW

• Docking Shoal 540MW

• Race Bank 620MW

Total 1,778MW

Braes of Doune

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Lynn & Inner Dowsing

• Two 97.2 MW wind farms• Two 90 MW grid connections• Total of 54 x 3.6MW turbines• Rotor diameter 107 metres• Generation equivalent to annual

demand of 130,000 homes• Managed on a multi-contract basis• First power May 2008

Facts and Figures

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Addressing Environmental Challenges

• Marine environment is busy, supporting wildlife, industry (aggregate extraction, commercial fishing) and recreation

• It also provides us with a number of services including coastal defence, food sources and nutrient recycling

• Developing offshore wind farms in balance with the existing environment is achieved through

• developing under a robust consenting process • Environmental Impact Assessment, mitigation and monitoring• Working with our stakeholders and with other developers to find

solutions to generic problems

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Consenting Process

Project Definition & scoping

Public & stakeholder consultation

Data collection, analysis & assessment

Production of Environmental Statement (ES)

Public & stakeholder consultation

Submission to Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for consent under Electricity Act, Coast Protection Act (CPA) & Food &

Environmental Protection Act (FEPA)

Consent granted, usually with a number of licence conditions including mitigation and monitoring

Note, above is set to change with Planning Act and Marine Bill and the creation of the Independent Planning Committee (IPC)

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Environmental Impact Assessment

• Better understanding the environment through the collection of high quality data over a number of years on the physical, biological and human environment

• Undertaking transparent assessments to meet or exceed ‘best practice’

• Work closely with stakeholders to ensure that we are meeting their requirements

• Work with other developers and stakeholders to identify solutions to common problems e.g.

• FLOWW - commercial fisheries Liaison group• NOREL - shipping and navigation liaison group• COWRIE – environmental liaison group funding research to benefit the industry

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Environmental surveys

Surveys include:

• Coastal processes• Geology• Birds and marine mammals• Shipping and navigation• Electromagnetic interference• Socio-economics• Visual seascape assessment• Hydrology and marine water quality• Fish and seabed communities• Underwater noise and vibration• Commercial fishing• Archaeology and cultural heritage• Safety

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Bird Monitoring for LID - Construction & Post ConstructionRadar surveys (& proposed aerial surveys)

Key Challenges - Consents & Environment

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An we do things better?

There is always room for improvement:

• Better scoping – making use of the data becoming available from operating wind farms to target real issues at the earliest opportunity

• Better communication – working more closely with our stakeholders to identify solutions and build bridges on a project by project level and nationally through liaison groups

• An industry approach – continuing to work within the industry to meet generic issues

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Thank you