This offshore lark is not all plain sailing

Super-human patience is an essential quality for anyone looking to make a splash in the UK's emerging offshore wind industry - that, plus oodles of start-up capital and an appetite for political risk.





London: Just ask Rune R ø nvik, project director of the £1bn ($1.46bn) Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm. It is being developed by Scira Offshore Energy, which is wholly owned by Norwegian oil giant StatoilHydro. Its 88 turbines will boast a generation capacity of 315 megawatts (MW) when it is completed in 2011.

"When you first contemplate moving into offshore wind, you read the press and it's easy to assume Britain is really gung-ho about this industry. You assume they'll be completely accommodating to offshore developers," Rønvik says.…

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