The Offshore Wind Industry Council has begun a programme to ensure the UK’s low-carbon energy system makes the best use of the growing proportion of power supplied by offshore wind and other renewables.
The new research project, Solving the Integration Challenge, is a key part of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal announced by Government and industry in March.
The taskforce, which began work on Monday in London, is led by Baroness Brown of Cambridge, the industry’s Offshore Wind Sector Champion.
It includes senior representatives from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Scottish Government, the Committee on Climate Change, National Grid, the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, the Energy Systems Catapult, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and companies including ITM Power, Atkins, Good Energy, Shell, Equinor, Vattenfall and Orsted.
The wide-ranging group of experts and business leaders will examine how the UK can continue to decarbonise by building a reliable modern energy system, managing variability of demand and supply, based on renewable technologies, with offshore wind playing a leading role.
The group will publish a road map identifying innovative techniques.
These will include using electricity from offshore wind to produce hydrogen, as a form of energy storage.
The taskforce will also examine how to introduce more flexibility into the UK’s energy system, for example by expanding battery storage and the use of demand side response.
Earlier this month the Government’s advisory, the Committee on Climate Change, published a report on cutting greenhouse gas emission to net zero by 2050 which highlighted the key role of wind energy in tackling global warming while also keeping energy bills down for consumers.
The report suggested that the UK could increase its offshore wind capacity nearly tenfold by 2050, from 7.9GW now to 75GW by 2050.
Baroness Brown of Cambridge said: “With the transformative Offshore Wind Sector Deal in place, and CCC’s call for more offshore wind, the time is right for the UK to reach out and embrace innovative technologies which will help us to integrate more low-cost power from renewables onto the system.
“This will benefit consumers and create highly-skilled jobs, as well as leading by example on the global stage in taking practical measures against climate change.”