The UK’s 40GW by 2030 offshore wind capacity target will be just the start with at least 100GW likely by 2050, RUK’s Global Offshore Wind 2020 has heard.
Committee on Climate Change chief executive Chris Stark told the virtual event the expansion will be driven by expectations of a much larger electricity system in the future.
Demand is forecast to at least double, all of which will need to be met by zero carbon sources.
“The majority of that will be offshore wind is what we think at the moment and that means you need a very large installed capacity,” he said.
“We think we have policy tools to deliver that and an industry that can also deliver that.”
Stark’s comments are covered in today’s special edition of reNEWS LiVE@ GOW 2020, which reports from the RUK-hosted virtual conference.
The edition also reports on boosting local content returns at UK wind farms should be a key focus for the industry now that prices have fallen to effective subsidy-free rates, according to SSE Renewables managing director Jim Smith, who also contributed an opinion piece for the publication.
Elsewhere, reNEWS reports on RWE Renewables senior regulatory affairs manager Nicola Percival’s belief that a new integrated grid regime for offshore wind will need to be in place in the next few years to enable the UK to reach its 40GW by 2030 capacity target.
There is a feature on 20MW turbines and how the UK local supply chain can secure work on the next-gen hardware, while Orsted UK head of region Duncan Clark sat down with reNEWS to discuss vital issues shaping the offshore wind sector.