Cirrus Energy is a collaboration between CeltPower Ltd, Shell Wind Energy & Elsam. Elsam was recently bought over by DONG Energy. In January 2003 an application was submitted by Cirrus Energy to the DTI under the Transport and Works Act 1992 (TWA) for an Order authorizing the development of a 324MW (90 turbine) offshore windfarm, off the north west coast of England . The development was commonly known as the Shell Flat Offshore Windfarm. The site was located on a sandbank protruding 20km out from the coast between Blackpool and Cleveleys.

The application was generally well received by consultees and members of the public. However there were objections from three key consultees:

English Nature, The Ministry of Defence (MOD) and

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

Cirrus Energy worked closely with these consultees in an effort to agree measures, which would mean that the development could proceed on the area included within the 2003 application. It proved impossible to reach agreement with EN, RSPB and indeed the MOD. However, agreement has now been reached with EN and RSPB that, subject to the detailed EIA, the development of the Shell Flat Offshore Windfarm on the revised site shown in Figure 1 will be acceptable. In order to avoid confusion in the naming of these two sites, the new location will be called the Cirrus Shell Flat Array (CSFA).

Update As of November 08

The project partners, CeltPower Ltd, Dong Energy and Shell WindEnergy Ltd, have taken the decision to withdraw our application for permission to develop an offshore wind project off the North West Coast of England. The project team has put a great deal of effort into addressing concerns raised both on the original Shell Flat site and the subsequent application for Cirrus Shell Flat Array. Unfortunately, despite these efforts and the re-location of the site in 2005 to overcome concerns about birds, it has not been possible to resolve underlying concerns about aviation and the project is therefore discontinued.