Developers have announced their preferred location for a wind farm off the Hampshire and Dorset coast. Following a year-long investigation of a 279 square mile of seabed awarded to Dutch energy company Eneco by The Crown Estate, an area of 76 square miles 8.4 miles south west of The Needles has been chosen.

 No detailed plans as to how many turbines are proposed or how they might be laid out have yet been made, but it is expected that the park would be made up of between 150 and 240 turbines, depending on the energy generation needed and the type of turbines used. They would be sited at a depth of 38m.

 “Navigation through windfarms should not create significant additional risks for recreational boaters, but we are concerned that the preferred development area is poorly located from a wider navigational perspective” Caroline Price from the RYA commented.
Eneco is keen to engage directly with clubs and training centres in the local area, and is to hold public information days on the proposals at:

Weymouth: Pavilion Theatre – Wednesday 16th March 2011
Poole: RNLI Lifeboat College – Thursday 17th March 2011
Newport, Isle of Wight: Quay Arts Centre – Wednesday 23rd March 2011
Lymington: Lymington Community Centre – Thursday 24th March 2011
Christchurch: Regent Centre – Friday 25th March 2011
Bournemouth: Pavilion Theatre – Wednesday 30th March 2011
Swanage: Mowlem Theatre – Thursday 31st March 2011