Eneco’s Princess Amalia wind park in the Netherlands, which looks similar to the one proposed in the western Solent.
WIGHT LIVINGPICTURE the scene in the western Solent in eight years time.
Scores of giant wind turbines spinning in the sea breeze, and as they gently hum, providing enough power to light up all the homes on the IW, Southampton and Bournemouth.
It seems that just about everyone who matters is getting in on the green energy act these days – even president Obama, reeling from the environmental disaster caused by BP’s oil spill, has read the riot act to gas guzzling Americans saying the country needs to wean itself from its reliance on fossil fuels, and fast.
With green energy being all the rage, and with on-shore wind farms including those proposed for the IW being, shall we say, a mite controversial, it comes as no great surprise that proposals to build an off-shore farm with the potential to generate enough energy to power 600,000 have been warmly welcomed by just about everyone.
Sure, there are a few worries about seabirds colliding with the windmill blades, and yes, yachtsmen are going to have to get used to a new hazard lying in the western approaches to the Solent (the farm could, even, be an aid to navigation) and there are niggling worries that on a calm day power levels will be less than hoped for.
But broadly speaking, people who matter including neighbouring local authorities, the Royal Yachting Association and environmental groups, are in agreement – offshore turbines are the way of the future.
Yet in a situation dripping with irony, the IW, just last year home to the largest wind turbine manufacturer in the UK, will not be in a position to make a single one of the hundreds of turbine blades which will be running right on its doorstep.
Instead, it now looks certain that the blades and turrets for the turbines will be manufactured elsewhere.
Last Thursday, renewable energy giant Eneco chose one of the most prestigious addresses on the Island, the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, to launch their public relations drive to win the hearts and minds of Islanders on to the benefits of offshore wind energy.
The company has been awarded the rights by the Crown Estates, owners of the seabed off the the British Isles, to apply for development consent to build the giant wind park which, when up and running, will provide power for more than 600,000 houses.
A gathering of the great and good from the IW, including environmental, marine and community groups, and the IW Council were told that the majority of the residents living on the IW considered themselves to be "green", with 80 per cent stating they would be happy to live in sight of a wind park because they believed in renewable energy.
Local residents are even being called upon by the company to help name the proposed wind park which should be up and running by 2018 if everything goes according to plan.
Guy Madgwick, director of Eneco, said: "This project is of both national and local significance and will make a valuable contribution to the UK renewable energy targets to help combat the impact of climate change and reduce reliance on overseas energy supplies. We have found the results of our research very encouraging as the public have a thorough understanding of these issues with 81 per cent living on the IW considering themselves to be green, and 80 per cent stating that they are happy to live in the sight of a wind farm because they believe in renewable energy.
"We look forward to continuing to consult with stakeholders throughout the lifetime of this project."
Tremendous news, you might say. After all, if recent experience on the IW is anything to go by, giant 130 metre high turbines are best kept out at sea.
It’s just that in the light of last year’s events when Vestas Blades closed down its state-of-the-art wind turbine blade manufacturing plant on the Island, to mass protests and international bad publicity, you would have thought that it would not be beyond the wit of man to reopen the plant and make the blades here.
Unfortunately, it appears that hopes of reviving blade manufacturing on the Island look destined to be dashed this time around, and the blades will not be made here after all.
Andrew Prior, Eneco’s director of environment explained that local companies could bid for contracts for support works such as making electrical sub-stations.
But as for manufacturing the giant wind turbine blades here on the IW, he was, shall we say, a lot more circumspect.
He said: "Vestas is a big name, They would be in for a shout. Whether they would be able to build the blades here, that we don’t know. A lot of manufacturers are making off-shore blades."
He added: "We should not get over excited about just turbines."
A Vestas spokesman confirmed that it would be too expensive to retool the plant at Dodnor, currently the home to a research and development facility, to manufacture the blades on the IW.
He said: "Our factory is now being used by the research and development department and they are actually expanding. This year, we plan to have up to 250 people employed there.
"We are not into the Eneco project. The cost would be extremely high. We have re-tooled for the R and D department and invested £50m in that."
So far, so disappointing. Island residents get to help name the new off-shore plant. They can even bid for contracts to make pieces that will help to service the turbines. But as for making the generators themselves, well, let’s just say don’t hold your breath.
However, according to Cllr George Brown, the IW Council cabinet member for the economy the Eneco project offered the IW a unique opportunity for the Island.
He said: "Together, the IW must do all it can to capitalise on this project.
"From the composites required to manufacuture turbine blades to the installation and on-going maintenance of wind turbines ajnd the operating ports to support the supply and maintenance chain, there are many avenues to explore."
One such company already successfully tapping into the offshore wind farm industry is Cowes based South Boats, the world’s leading designer and builder of crew catamarans to service offshore windfarms.
Ben Coleman, South Boats director, said: "A project of this size will need a considerable amount of vessels that could provide many years of work to South Boats and the IW securing the reputation that South Boats have as the world’s leading designer and builder of offshore wind farm crew vessels."
However, for Keith Taylor, the south east’s new Green MEP, the fact that Vestas’s plant closed in the first place when manufacturing capacity was so clearly needed speaks of a failure of leadership.
He said: "A new offshore windfarm would be great news for the IW, and the south east as a whole.
"Not only would this facility generate clean and renewable energy, it would also create new green jobs at a time of economic uncertainty and increasing alarm over climate change. It’s crucial for our energy security that we make the best of the UK’s massive potential in offshore resources.
"It’s been estimated that using just one-third of the UK’s wind, wave and tidal resource could unlock the the electricity equivalent of one billion barrels of oil a year, matching North Sea oil and gas production, and could reduce CO2 emissions by 1.1 billion tonnes by 2050, creating 145,000 jobs in the process.
"Sadly, although the government should be working towards a greener, more sustainable economy and investing in exciting green technologies, David Cameron’s coalition is ploughing ahead with massive public spending cuts, putting investment in the green jobs sector at great risk."
He added: "In part, it was a failure of leadership of this kind from the last government which allowed for the closure of the Vestas wind turbine blade manufacturing plant on the IW – at a cost of 600 jobs.
"In the light of this new development by Eneco, it seems an even greater shame that neither Vestas nor the government could find the money to keep that plant open for business, and keep its workers in jobs."