Offshore wind energy could meet 35% of the UK’s electricity demand by 2030 and support 50,000 skilled jobs, according to a new Offshore Wind Vision document released today.
The document is being launched as part of Offshore Wind Week (16-20 November), a cross-sector initiative involving many responsible for licensing, developing, manufacturing, constructing and operating offshore wind farms in the UK.
The document main points are:
- Offshore wind is getting cheaper with the level of subsidy dropping by 38% and is on track to be competitive with other new generation sources by the mid-2020s;
- Offshore wind has become the most productive of all the renewable technologies, and this improvement is set to continue, with the newest wind farms are already operating at load factors of up to 50%;
- The sector is attracting global investment, with over £9.5bn coming from investors since 2010 encouraged by stable and predictable regulatory regimes for renewable energy; and
- Offshore wind already provides employment for 13,000 people and with continued deployment that figure could grow to 50,000 by 2030 across development, supply chain, construction and operational roles.
Offshore Wind Industry Council co-chair Benj Sykes said: “It is only 15 years since the first UK offshore wind farm – just two 2MW turbines – began operating. Since then the technology has matured rapidly to the point where the UK leads the world in deployment and could readily build 30 gigawatts of capacity by 2030 – enough to meet 35% of UK demand.”
Offshore Wind Week is supported by organisations including Associated British Ports, Dong Energy, MHI Vestas, the Offshore Renewable Catapult, RenewableUK, RWE, ScottishPower Renewables, Siemens, SSE, Statkraft, Statoil and Vattenfall.
Image: RWE’s Gwynt y Mor offshore wind farm (RWE)