Offshore wind leaders gathered at the All-Energy 2026 conference in Glasgow have told the reNEWS Podcast that the UK sector has taken a major step forward following the AR7 auction round but warned that grid delays, transmission charging and political uncertainty still threaten future investment.
The latest episode of the reNEWS Podcast, available below, asks the central question now facing the industry: is UK offshore wind back on track?
More than 8GW of offshore wind capacity secured contracts in the AR7 auction, including major awards for projects in England, Wales and Scotland.
RWE project director Adam Ezzamel described AR7 as “a great result for the industry” after the company secured 6GW+ of projects including Dogger Bank South and Norfolk Vanguard.
“We’ve survived a very tough five years as a sector,” Ezzamel told the podcast.
“But in terms of AR7, it’s amazing and brilliant for the sector that more than 8GW of capacity was awarded.”
The RWE man also warned that grid risk remains one of the sector’s biggest unresolved challenges.
“The grid requires a monumental upgrade in order to accommodate the build-out of renewables,” he said.
Ocean Winds project director Mark Baxter (pictured) said AR7 had been successful “in volume and diversity of projects” but questioned whether the outcome could be repeated without further policy intervention.
“A CfD doesn’t automatically mean success,” Baxter said.
“Projects have to go through quite a large piece of work to reach financial close.”
Industry concerns over transmission charging in Scotland also featured heavily in the episode, with developers warning that uncertainty over future charging regimes could deter investment committees from backing projects in AR8.
Scottish Renewables chief Claire Mack said AR7 had succeeded “more by chance than design” because Scottish projects continue to face disproportionately high transmission charges.
“There is an advantage geographically to not being in Scotland, and that is a concern,” Mack said.