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RenewableUK welcomes progress on wind farm-friendly radar

13 January 2012

  • Contract awarded for two new TPS-77 radar installations in Northumberland and Yorkshire
  • New radar would remove MoD objections to over 750MW of planned wind farms

RenewableUK, the trade association for the wind, wave & tidal industry, has welcomed the award of a contract for the deployment of two new wind farm-friendly radar installations to Serco, hailing it as a ‘sign of progress on a long-term obstacle’.

Older radar systems find it difficult to resolve the radar returns from large moving structures like wind turbines, creating a radar ‘blind spot’ through which hostile aircraft could travel. The MoD has lodged objections to wind farms in key strategic locations on these grounds.

Through an innovative joint funding venture involving contributions from the industry, two more wind farm-friendly radars are due to be deployed in Northumberland and Yorkshire. Together with an existing project at RAF Trimingham, over 4GW of wind farm development could be unlocked.

Dr Gordon Edge, RenewableUK’s Director of Policy, said “The deployment of the TPS-77 in Norfolk and the award of contracts for its deployment other key locations heralds the end of what has been a long-term obstacle for the expansion of wind energy. Through close co-operation with the Ministry of Defence, the industry is identifying its impact on our defence infrastructure and bearing its share of the costs of mitigating that impact. By doing so, we expand our ability to tap into Britain’s world-beating renewable energy resources.”

-ENDS-

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Notes:

  1. RenewableUK is the trade and professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries. Formed in 1978, and with more than 700 corporate members, RenewableUK is the leading renewable energy trade association in the UK. Wind has been the world's fastest growing renewable energy source for the last seven years, and this trend is expected to continue with falling costs of wind energy and the urgent international need to tackle CO2 emissions to prevent climate change.