We are delighted to welcome back Dr. Milne to PES for this insightful piece about what is arguably the most expensive piece of offshore real estate in Europe right now – with the Isle of Man at the commercial epicentre.
The Isle of Man is a strategically situated island located in the middle of the Irish Sea between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The Island’s Government owns 4,000 km2 of seabed, up to 12 miles from the shore which was purchased from the UK Crown Estate in the early 1990s and therefore, has consenting responsibility in this area for all developments including offshore wind projects.
The Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown Dependency which has its own government, laws and currency, but has close constitutional links to the UK with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, ‘Lord of Mann’, as the Head of State. Tynwald, the Isle of Man’s parliament, founded over 1,000 years ago, is the world’s oldest continuous parliament.
Offshore energy projects
The Isle of Man offshore energy strategy, approved by Tynwald in April 2014, supports the development of offshore energy, including wind power, in the Island’s territorial sea. Part of this strategy is to produce energy for export to neighbouring jurisdictions such as the UK. The Island announced the appointments of preferred partners for offshore energy projects in November 2014, which include DONG Energy for offshore wind development.
This offshore wind project alone could generate around 700 megawatt of power for export. The initial geophysical surveys have been completed to better understand the ground conditions and how best to develop the site for the Isle of Man offshore wind project. Further surveys are planned for later in 2015 including commencement of studies for an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).
