'A huge transmission line, stretching from North to South is the answer, but planning permission would take; - Adam Maloyd, TNEI consultants: THE Tees Valley could miss out on becoming a green energy powerhouse because of long delays in connecting to the National Grid. KELLEY PRICE reports on how lack of investment in infrastructure is frustrating a green revolution...

Byline: KELLEY PRICE

LENGTHY hold-ups - sometimes stretching beyond ten years on larger green energy projects - could force some developers to walk away from major projects on Teesside, industry bosses have claimed.

Green technologies, most notably offshore wind, could hold the key to a prosperous future for the region, but future wind farms out at sea could be sunk by a potential policy iceberg.

Concerns are rising among the region's renewables sector that a distinct grid capacity shortfall could mean the UK misses its target of 15% energy from green sources by 2020 and the campaign is mounting on government to address their concerns as a matter of urgency.

The National Grid - which is a global gas and electricity company and one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world - has introduced short-term measures to ease the bottleneck. But calls are growing for a proper upgrade of the UK's power network.

Martyn Pellew, PD Ports development director, hopes to exploit the UK's massive potential for offshore wind - our shores hold a staggering 40% of Europe's remaining resource for the technology.

He has been lobbying Government ministers at top level, amid fears that grid access will fall woefully short for new projects, which could be critically delayed or abandoned altogether.

"The Government has declared that it wants to raise the level of renewable energy, which is laudable," he said.

"It's all very well to have targets, but they won't work if there is no grid access." The biting point could arrive in the coming months, when decisions are taken on round three of the offshore wind farm leasing programme.

Launched last year by the Crown Estate - a property portfolio owned by the UK Crown - the move will see up to 25gw of projects, nearly a third of the UK's overall power generation, move another step forward.

Rounds one and two covered 8gws of power and included plans for a 30-turbine wind farm off the coast of Redcar by EDF Energy.

But the third round is the big one - set to provide a massive 25gw, which is around one third of the UK's power. The process is currently out to bids.

A ty pi ca l diffi c u l t - fo ur ab o ut e xtr eme ca n - Stuart Larque, National Grid "There are several elements to offshore wind that are very interesting for the port," says Martyn. "Existing facilities - the wind farm installation ship, the Resolution, is based here and is ideal for this work.

"There is also no reason why the UK could not take over from Denmark as a world centre for the manufacturing of towers and blades and the Tees Valley has land available for this. A strong quay is needed, and maintenance and engineering skills, all of which this area can provide.

" W e a r e v e ry keen on t hi s , i t ' s a n a ttr ac t i v e s e t of m a r ke ts f r om a po rt ope r a t o r ' s poin t of v ie w . T he r e a r e plen ty of oppo rtu ni t ie s fo r jo b c r e a t ion a nd in w a r d in v e st men t a t t he po rt - b ut i t a ll st a rts w i t h g r id acc e ss . I t w on' t b e c ome a r e a li ty u nle ss t he inf r a stru c tur e t o tr a n s mi t t he ele c tr i c i ty t o t he S o ut h of E ngl a nd i s in pl ac e." A d a m Ma lo y d , s enio r t e c hni ca l c on su l t a n t fo r syst em s a n a l ys i s w i t h independen t ene r g y c on su l t a n ts TNEI, a d v i s e s a r a nge of c lien ts on t he b e st w a y of o b t a ining a g r id c onne c t ion. H e s a id t he bac klog , in w hi c h s ome p r oje c ts a r e w o r king t o c onnection date of 2016 or 2018, was improving thanks to Ofgem and the National Grid working together. t ime i s pinpoin t i s I n i t "The National Grid network is fairly old and reaching capacity.

There is a lot of generation in Scotland - in the main, power is generated in the North of the UK but used in the South and the cables carrying it are full.

"Transporting energy is expensive, so connection points should be as close as possible when designing a wind farm.

"Essentially, we need to upgrade the infrastructure but it's expensive.

A huge transmission line, stretching from North to South is the answer, but planning permission would take years.

"Connection is still very much an option, but developers need to know exactly what they need before applying to reserve their capacity. It's important to encourage renewables for security of supply and energy balance and better distribution." But grid access is not the only problem facing developers - a speedy planning decision can sometimes seem like the Holy Grail.

A spokesperson for Ofgem said: "It's clear there's a long queue of projects that want to be connected.

But there are several issues, including the planning process. In the past, projects have spent upwards of two to three years waiting on a decision - clearly that can't continue if we are to meet the renewables targets.

I t ' s long p r oje c ts w a n t t o - O fgem "We have encouraged the National Grid to take a more hands-on approach with projects waiting for connection and we're being more pro-active by prioritising those that are ready." The 'connect and manage' system introduced by the National Grid alters the company's connection policy. Previously, offers were made only to those projects that were 'firm' - ie that produced energy around the clock. But the backlog is slowly abating after the National Grid decided to allow projects that generate energy only at certain times to go online.

Most wind farms don't operate to full capacity at all times.

In another move, projects that have reserved capacity but ran into planning delays are no longer standing in the way of those schemes that are ready to go live.

Stewart Larque, from the National Grid, said there were continuous upgrades to the system - a total of pounds 1bn has been invested this year.

"There has been an enormous rise in the number of renewables projects being brought forward and given the unprecedented challenges, we're working to bring in renewables as quickly as possible. A typical connection time is difficult to pinpoint, but four years, including all the design work, planning permission stages and building assets, is about right. In extreme cases, it can take ten years but we are hoping to bring this forward." According to Martyn Pellew "it isn't unreasonable for any larger-scale investor to expect grid access within five years".

And he should know. PD Ports played a large part in gaining planning permission from Redcar and Cleveland Council in just 12 months for a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) importation facility by Excelerate Energy in 2006.

"We need the Tees Valley to build a reputation for a very professional handling of planning applications to attract investors," he said.

t he r e' s a of 'It's time to invest' says Rob

BANKS Developments has recently built a 24mw wind turbine in Weardale and is hoping to connect a 20mw turbine around 1km from the village of Sadberge, near Darlington.

The company is also looking at other renewables projects on Teesside.

Renewables projects director Rob Williams said: "Grid connection delays can be one of the major hurdles to overcome for developers.

"The lack of an affordable grid connection can prevent projects coming forward. But location is also very important - if you put a generation project in the wrong place, it's like building a house with no road to it.

"There are opportunities to connect schemes, but larger projects in particular can have lengthy delays.

"If the Government wants to achieve the targets it's set, significant investment in infrastructure is essential."

* T he Government wants to build 25 gigawatts of offshore wind farms to help meet the 15% renewables target by 2020 - the largest projects approved so far are around the north coast.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change said it was working to speed up development of a new grid network and connection rates times for renewables projects.

Plans for a new offshore grid requiring up to pounds 15bn of investment are also under way.

"Investors are currently facing tough economic decisions, but the t he a nd a s poke s pe rs on s a id. T he Energy and Climate Change Committee will hold the second oral evidence session for its inquiry into the future of Britain's electricity networks tomorrow.

Issues include the challenges of meeting the 2020 renewables target, longer-term security of energy supply and climate change goals and action required to bridge the power sector skills gap..

* MGT Power's pounds 400m biomass plant, due to produce 300MW of electricity on Teesside, is among the first in a new generation of large scale plants deriving energy from wood..

* E nergy use in the UK is concentrated in the South - below an imaginary line running from The Wash to mid-Welsh coast shows how UK energy use is split 50-50.

TEESSIDE RENEWABLES projects coming online in the next few years that are likely to require grid connections: MGT Power - a pounds 400 million biomass plant at Teesport, 300mw EDF's Redcar offshore wind farm - 30 turbines capable of producing 100mw SITA energy-from-waste plant at Haverton Hill, 30mw T hor Cogeneration - lower-carbon gas-fired power station by 2012, 1,020mw H elius Energy Biomass plant - likely to be 65mw Powering ahead....A typical connection time is difficult to pinpoint - four years is about right. In extreme cases, it can take ten - Stuart Larque, National GridIt's clear there's a long queue of projects that want to be connected - Ofgem

CAPTION(S):

'TIME TO EXPLOIT THE POTENTIAL' Martyn Pellew, PD Ports development director PLEA: Rob Williams, renewables projects director