The main issues affecting the progression of the project are the ground conditions in the site, particularly the presence of hard rock, coupled with challenging wave conditions which could impact construction. Beyond this, there is a significant presence of basking sharks, which environmental groups continue to study to get a greater understanding of their movements in the area.
…
“However, it is our view that the Argyll Array project is not financially viable in the short term. As cost reductions continue to filter through the offshore wind industry, and as construction techniques and turbine technology continues to improve, we believe that the Argyll Array could become a viable project in the long term.
Scottish Power news release Friday 13th
This is breaking news so I can’t add more.
Post by Tim
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
This from the Beeb:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-25364699
They say it could ‘power a million homes’ but of course that works less than a third of the time, so the rest of the power has to be delivered from somewhere else for the other two thirds plus.
And Tiree is about as far as you can get from a million homes in the UK, so a great deal of money would also have to go into power transmission systems. Or they could build a gas-fired power station near one of the big cities for a fraction of the cost 😉
From the Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10512261/Energy-minister-indicates-government-could-defy-official-advisers-verdict-on-green-energy-targets.html
Michael Fallon has indicated that the Government could be prepared to defy official recommendations that it must meet its green energy targets for the 2020s.
The Energy minister described a report that said the UK is legally obliged to meet tough emissions targets as “advice”.
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) this week said in a report that the country must stick to a plan that will add £120 to household energy bills by 2030.
Under the Climate Change Act 2008, which requires an 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, the Government must agree greenhouse gas emissions “budgets” for four-year periods.
Appearing before MPs on Wednesday, Mr Fallon admitted he had not actually read the report published by the CCC, which said there was no possible legal basis for cutting the targets.
He suggested that the Government would not necessarily be bound by the recommendation and said: “The report is, of course, advice. It is important advice, but it is advice.”
The CCC’s report said the Government could not deviate from the so-called “fourth carbon budget”, which would require a 32 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions on 2012 levels by 2025.
The targets would require the construction of new wind farms and nuclear plants and would limit the potential for new gas plants to run unabated.
Mr Fallon said he had “not yet had time to see “ the report and gave no indication of when the Government would respond.
Mr Fallon said he also could not recall details of a nine-page letter from the CCC in October which explained what the decision was likely to be, and that he had not read the first part of the CCC’s report, issued in November.
“I’m behind in my reading of their reports,” he said. “There are lots of reports I should be reading. Every day there are reports I should be reading.”
Bishop-Hill has “Hones’s sudden realisation that many of his fellow-travellers in the environmental movement are completely round the twist is rather comical and you can’t help but wonder where he has been in the last twenty years.”
http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2013/12/13/a-sudden-realisation.html
Friday 13th and …
More good news.
ScottishPower Renewables abandons £5.4bn Tiree offshore wind farm plan.
http://www.business7.co.uk/business-news/energy/2013/12/13/scottishpower-renewables-abandons-5-4bn-tiree-offshore-wind-farm-plan-106408-24032695/
Tim, I read Hone’s (not Hones’s) blog, and left this comment (the first there):
CCS is a failed costly and pointless fantasy.
Intermittent carbon-free power sources are unusable attempts to turn back the clock by centuries.
Real-world evidence of CO2 “forcing” of climate is nowhere to be found.
You attended a “Lets you and him commit suicide” conference. Doh.
In moderation. Lets see if it escapes.
CCS is a failed costly and pointless fantasy.
Intermittent carbon-free power sources are unusable attempts to turn back the clock by centuries.
Real-world evidence of CO2 “forcing” of climate is nowhere to be found.
You attended a “Lets you and him commit suicide” conference. Doh.
Sorry for the double paste!
Ignore my last wrong blog site.