East Anglia Offshore Wind, a 50-50 Joint Venture between ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall, today confirmed it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with both International Port Holdings and Associated British Ports.

These MoU’s highlight that Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft Ports have the opportunity to play key roles in the construction and operation of the East Anglia Offshore Wind farm projects.

Talks are also continuing with other port operators on how best to support future construction and operational requirements of the development.

Vattenfall and ScottishPower Renewables won the right to develop the East Anglia zone in January 2010 from The Crown Estate following the third licensing round for offshore wind. The Zone has the potential to deliver 7,200 MW of offshore wind capacity, and would meet the equivalent electricity needs of over five million UK households.

East Anglia Offshore Wind Programme Director, Jason Martin, said "The East Anglia zone is one of the largest offshore wind farm developments in the world and will require significant construction and operational support in the coming decades.

“Our discussions with local port operators demonstrate the strong offshore energy support services and experience in the region and we are currently building our technical and economic case to allow our construction and operations activities to be focused in this part of the country.

“Furthermore, by entering into the MoUs we are demonstrating our confidence in the capabilities of the local ports to support the delivery of our Offshore Wind project over the long term and look forward to exploring the prospect of building on these agreements in due course."

Eliza O’Toole Deputy Chair of Great Yarmouth Port Company said “We have been in dialogue with East Anglia Offshore Wind since they were awarded the East Anglia Zone. We are delighted to have entered into detailed MoU and right now we remain focused on concluding the arrangements to secure this significant employment and investment opportunity for our business and the wider East Anglian community.”

Nick Ridehalgh, ABP Port Director, Short Sea Ports said:

"Having successfully worked with both Scottish Power Renewables and Vattenfall in respect of recent onshore and offshore wind projects through other ABP facilities, we are delighted to now be working closely with EAOW at Lowestoft.   Lowestoft is the UK’s most easterly port and this strategic location, close to the proposed East Anglian zone, ensures the port is especially well placed to service the long term requirements of East Anglia Offshore Wind and the rapidly expanding offshore renewable energy sector."

East Anglian MP’s Peter Aldous and Brandon Lewis both welcomed the announcement: “We are pleased to see this strong interest in East Anglia’s ports, which include areas of the Enterprise Zone recently announced by the Government. Our region has a strong track record of delivery across the energy sector and we are well located to gain from forecast growth in Offshore Wind. We look forward to working with East Anglia Offshore Wind as they develop their proposals.”

Notes to Editors:

• East Anglia Offshore Wind Ltd is the joint-venture company, owned 50-50 between ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall AB.
• The joint venture brings together two highly professional teams of experts in the wind energy industry with complementary skills and experience.
• ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall currently operate offshore and onshore windfarms in the UK with a combined total of over 1,400 MW.
• www.eastangliawind.co.uk  
• ScottishPower Renewables is part of Iberdrola, the largest wind energy company in the world* with an installed capacity of 13,500 MW.
• ScottishPower Renewables was the first developer in the UK to reach 1000 MW of installed wind capacity.
• ScottishPower Renewables is also developing another 2189 MW of offshore energy projects in the UK, the 389MW West of Duddon Sands zone and the 1800MW Argyll Array.
• ScottishPower Renewables is the largest operator of onshore wind energy in the UK, and operates Europe’s largest wind farm, Whitelee which was completed in May 2009.
• www.scottishpowerrenewables.com
• Vattenfall is a leading European energy company. It is Europe’s sixth largest generator of electricity and largest producer of heat. Its major customers are industrial plants, energy companies, municipalities, property companies and housing associations across northern Europe.
• Vattenfall currently operates 686MW of offshore wind capacity around Europe, including Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, the world’s largest, and is currently constructing the 150MW Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm, off Barrow-in-Furness. It also operates 526MW of onshore wind across Europe, including Edinbane on the Isle of Skye.
• www.vattenfall.co.uk and www.vattenfall.com
• *Source: Bloomberg/Emerging Energy Research. LLC
• Great Yarmouth Port Company Limited
• Great Yarmouth Port is the principal port servicing the oil and gas industry in the Southern North Sea;
• The Outer Harbour at Great Yarmouth constructed during 2007-2010 has resulted in a harbour with 10 metres depth, up to 1400 metres of new wharves and surrounding land holdings;
• The outer harbour was built to ensure the long term ability of Great Yarmouth port to service larger vessels requiring deep water and thus supporting regeneration of Great Yarmouth to meet the needs of the modern shipping industry; 
• ABP Lowestoft
• ABP is Britain's largest and leading ports group handling around 150 million tonnes a year and employing nearly 2,000 staff across the business. 
• ABP owns and operates 21 ports in England, Scotland and Wales: Ayr, Barrow, Barry, Cardiff, Fleetwood, Garston, Goole, Grimsby, Hull, Immingham, Ipswich, King's Lynn, Lowestoft, Newport, Plymouth (Millbay), Port Talbot, Silloth, Southampton, Swansea, Teignmouth and Troon.
• ABP's 21 ports, together with the other transport-related businesses that constitute the ABP group, form a UK-wide network capable of handling every conceivable type of cargo. ABP is backed by investment in modern facilities and equipment, and supported by experienced staff.  The group's other activities include rail terminal operations (Hams Hall), ship's agency, dredging (UK Dredging Ltd) and marine consultancy (ABPmer). Each port also offers a well-established community of port-service providers.
• The port estates owned by ABP cover 12,000 acres of land and seabed across the UK.
• ABP also owns 49% of DP World Southampton (Southampton container terminal) and 33% of Tilbury Container Services (Tilbury container terminal).