SOUTHERN NORTH SEA TO REVEAL MORE OF ITS RICHES
26 January 2010
The North Sea has proved a treasure chest for the UK with its oil and gas reserves and is now offering new riches in its potential for windpower, underground coal gasification (UCG), carbon capture and gas storage.
That's why next month's SNS10 conference staged in Norwich by EEEGR (the East of England Energy Group) is themed on The Sea of Opportunity.
It comes hot on the heels of the announcement of two massive new windfarms in the Southern North Sea (SNS) off Norfolk and Lincolnshire.
Equally enthralling is the news that British/US company Clean Coal is to carry out extensive underground tests off Cromer and Humberside on coal seams that could create a major and long-term energy supply for the UK.
Off Cromer alone, preliminary studies have suggested that there are enough reserves to produce all the energy needs of Norwich for at least 30 years.
Clean Coal chief executive Catherine Bond will tell the conference - at the Holiday Inn, Norwich Airport, on February 25 - that studies have also suggested enough coal reserves off Humberside to produce half the energy needs of Grimsby and Hull over a similar period.
"These 12-18 month investigations (two of five around the UK planned by Clean Coal) could signal a multi-million pound investment in the East of England," she said.
They plan to call on local firms' expertise in drilling, seismic studies and engineering for the investigations, confident that the region has the capability and capacity.