The UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is inviting expressions of interest into a £160m floating offshore wind fund.
The Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS) will provide government funding to boost floating offshore wind capability around the UK at sites in Scotland, Wales and elsewhere by supporting manufacturers and giving private investors the confidence to back this emerging sector which is expected to rapidly expand in the years ahead.
Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “Our announcement today represents another important step in our ambitious plans to accelerate offshore wind as a source of affordable, homegrown energy for the UK and drive down bills for households.”
Around 15GW of floating offshore wind in Scottish waters has been announced through the ScotWind leasing round and a further 4GW is to be leased off the Welsh coast in the Celtic Sea.
Combined, these could require well over a thousand floating wind foundations, presenting the UK with a huge opportunity to establish a world leading sector capable of bringing down technology costs and delivering floating offshore wind at scale.
The emerging UK floating offshore wind sector already has two operational projects generating power off the coast of Scotland at Hywind Scotland and Kincardine.
The £160m funding will unlock further deepwater port infrastructure and support private investment in new factories to mass produce major components for floating offshore wind, with ambitions for projects off the coast of Wales.
The government announced in its British Energy Security Strategy an ambition to deliver up to 50GW of offshore wind by 2030, including up to 5GW of innovative floating wind.
Meanwhile, Tim Pick has been appointed as the UK’s first Offshore Wind Champion. His role will be in spearheading the work to accelerate new offshore wind projects around the UK, chairing the Offshore Wind Acceleration Taskforce (OWAT).
This taskforce will bring together companies from across the offshore wind sector to coordinate their efforts and speed up the further development of offshore wind power in the UK.
Pick was previously head of energy, resources and infrastructure at law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, prior to which he was head of Shearman & Sterling’s international project development and finance practice.