The Shell Flat Sandbank was the site of a proposed Cirrus Shell Flat Array offshore wind farm

Wind farm

A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...

 in Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is located about 8 kilometres (5 mi) off the coast between Blackpool

Blackpool

Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...

 and Cleveleys

Cleveleys

Cleveleys is a town on the Fylde Coast of Lancashire, England, about 4 miles north of Blackpool and 2 miles south of Fleetwood...

. The wind farm project was canceled in 2008.

History

The original application was submitted in 2003. The permission for the site studies was granted on 16 June 2004. The new application with changed location was submitted in 2007. The application for planning permission was withdrawn in 2008.

Description

The Cirrus Shell Flat Array would contain 90 turbines rated at 180 MW. A later redesign of the scheme, by Scottish Power, for 284 MW, was withdrawn from the planning process in November 2008.

Developers

The developer, Cirrus Energy, was a consortium made up of CeltPower Ltd (subsidiary of Scottish Power

Scottish Power

ScottishPower Ltd. is a vertically integrated energy company with its headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but in 2006 it became a subsidiary of the Spanish utility Iberdrola...

), Elsam A/S (now DONG Energy

DONG Energy

-History:The Danish state company Dansk Naturgas A/S was founded in 1972 to manage resources in the Danish sector of the North Sea. After some years, the company was renamed to Dansk Olie og Naturgas A/S . At the beginning of 2000s, DONG started to extend itself into the electricity market by...

) and Shell Wind Energy Aegir Ltd

Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...

. Shell's interest in the project has subsequently been reported sold to the project's partners, Scottish Power andDONG Energy. However, this was denied by Shell.

Reasons for cancellation

The project was canceled due safety and environmental concerns. The application was withdrawn after the developers failed to reach an agreement with BAE Systems

BAE Systems

BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...

 and the Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

 over concerns of an interference with their radar systems and a potential physical obstruction for low flying aircraft. There were concerns that the wind farm would interfere with BAE Systems test flying at Warton

Warton, Fylde

Warton is a village on the Fylde in Lancashire, England.The village is about six miles from Preston and eight miles from Blackpool. It is located on the banks of the River Ribble, close to its entry into the Irish Sea. It is best known for its airfield, BAE Warton and its associated aircraft works...

. Also potential risk to shipping was one of concerns.

Construction of the wind farm was objected by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Bird Notes and News was first published in April 1903.The title changed to 'Bird Notes' in 1947. In the 1950s, there were four copies per year . Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years...

. A large population of Common Scoter

Common Scoter

The Common Scoter is a large sea duck, 43-54 cm in length, which breeds over the far north of Europe and Asia east to the Olenyok River. The American/E Siberian M. americana is sometimes considered a subspecies of M. nigra.It winters further south in temperate zones, on the coasts of Europe as...

s (sea duck) was found near the site. This cause the relocation of site in 2005 more close to Fleetwood

Fleetwood

Fleetwood is a town within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 26,840 people at the 2001 Census. It forms part of the Greater Blackpool conurbation. The town was the first planned community of the Victorian era...

. However, the new site was in addition to BAE Systems and the Ministry of Defence also objected by the Blackpool International Airport and local fishermen.