Eleven offshore wind developers, including BP, EnBW, Fred Olsen Seawind and Ørsted, are partnering with the Carbon Trust to make future offshore wind more sustainable.
The developers will work in collaboration with the Carbon Trust as part of the new Offshore Wind Sustainability Joint Industry Programme to develop the first industry-backed methodology and guidance to measure and address the carbon emissions associated with offshore wind farms throughout their lifecycles.
This includes emissions from the manufacturing of materials and installation of wind farms.
The aim of this work is to help the global offshore wind industry scale as sustainably as possible.
A standardised methodology will ensure the scale of installation needed is delivered in a low carbon way and encourage comparability across developers and assets.
The first project delivered as part of the new programme will develop the first standardised methodology to enable developers to calculate the lifecycle emissions of their offshore wind assets, including their upstream supply chain emissions, the construction phase and the operation phase.
The project will engage with the industry to improve data quality and availability and promote greater supply chain transparency as well as identify key carbon emission drivers and hotspots in the offshore wind value chain and wind farm lifecycle.
Jan Matthiesen, Director, Offshore Wind at the Carbon Trust, said: “Global climate targets cannot be met without stepping up renewable energy generation, and offshore wind is particularly crucial to the world’s transition away from fossil fuels.
“Our experience working with the industry through various joint industry projects is proof that collaboration is key.
“Over the last 14 years, we have been focused on scaling up the offshore wind market through our Joint Industry Programmes, such as the Offshore Wind Accelerator and the Floating Wind Joint Industry Programme.”