The UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland have appointed Arup to research a range of scenarios for future offshore wind development.
The Future Offshore Wind Scenarios (FOWS) project is part of the Offshore Wind Evidence and Change Programme led by The Crown Estate, together with its programme partners, BEIS and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
The research will provide a greater understanding of the balance between technical, economic, environmental and system constraints, and their interactions with the costs to deliver the UK’s Net Zero ambition, according to Arup.
The appointment comes at a crucial time in the sector, following the recent launch of the UK Government’s Energy White Paper which outlines the ambition to deploy 40GW of offshore wind by 2030.
Arup will work with UK technology innovation and research centre, the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, and marine consultancy, ABPmer, to develop these scenarios and build a digital and data mapping solution to visualise costs and spatial constraints in an interactive and geospatial format.
This research builds upon existing spatial analysis conducted by The Crown Estate and the Scottish Government’s Sectoral Marine Plan, which aims to identify the most sustainable options for the future development of commercial-scale offshore wind energy.
Arup Scotland energy leader Clare Lavelle said: “This is a pivotal time for the energy industry and its customers, with offshore wind identified as the backbone to the UK’s plan to produce renewable energy at scale.
“This research is a vital step towards mapping out the future of offshore wind in the UK and its role in helping the country towards its 2050 Net Zero commitment.
“We will draw on our team’s industry-leading expertise to provide an agile, digital-first approach to assessing deployment limitations, cost and how best to engage with industry and regulators to aid future decision-making.”