Labour’s plans for floating wind offer massive manufacturing opportunities in UK

RenewableUK, the Offshore Wind Industry Council, The Crown Estate & Crown Estate Scotland have announced they are developing a new Industrial Growth Plan (IGP) to boost long-term growth of the UK offshore wind sector and have appointed KPMG to support development of the IGP.

Responding to the measures relating to the energy sector outlined in the King’s Speech, RenewableUK’s Chief Executive Dan McGrail said:

A new report published today by RenewableUK Cymru shows that wind power has the potential to generate 9GW of energy for Wales over the next decade, but only if an ambitious delivery plan with enabling actions is put in place now.

RenewableUK has published a new guide, “Demystifying the Hydrogen Business Model for Electrolysis”, which aims to explain to investors and policy makers how the Government’s Hydrogen Production Business Model works, the challenges which come with it and the reforms which are necessary to ensure the UK can rapidly deploy the first tranche of major green hydrogen projects needed to catalyse cost reduction.

A new report published today by RenewableUK shows that the total pipeline of floating offshore wind projects has grown significantly in the last 12 months in terms of capacity from 185 gigawatts a year ago to 244GW now - a 32% increase.

RenewableUK says the Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal which was signed today could be replicated throughout the rest of the UK, to secure investment and jobs in clean tech and ensure that consumers benefit from lower electricity bills.

Prime Minister must ensure investment in UK’s green economy doesn’t drain away

Responding to the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s speech on changes to green policies, RenewableUK’s Chief Executive Dan McGrail said:

Industry body RenewableUK is calling on the Government to take urgent action to rebuild investor confidence in the UK offshore wind market following a clean power auction that risks undermining targets to boost energy security and jeopardising the industrial opportunities of offshore wind – one of the UK’s most important growth sectors.

Government’s policy changes do not go far enough to bring back onshore wind in England

Responding to the changes announced today by the Government on onshore wind policy, RenewableUK's Head of Onshore Wind James Robottom said:

The cost of electricity will inevitably rise for consumers if plans for a drastic overhaul of the market go ahead, say three major trade associations representing over 800 renewable energy companies.

New polling by Survation, commissioned by RenewableUK, shows that nearly two-thirds of people (64%) support the development of new electricity grid infrastructure to enable the decarbonisation of the UK economy and improve Britain’s energy security, while only 5% oppose it. Support is even higher among those who voted Conservative in the last general election, with 71% in favour and 6% opposed.

Commenting on the report published today by the Government’s Electricity Networks Commissioner Nick Winser, RenewableUK’s Chief Executive Dan McGrail said:

Commenting on yesterday’s energy security summit convened by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps in Downing Street, our representative at the meeting RenewableUK's Executive Director of Policy Ana Musat said:

New statistics released today by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirm that renewables generated a record annual amount of electricity in 2022, outstripping fossil fuels for a second year. Onshore and offshore wind also generated their highest annual volumes of electricity ever.

Independent polling by Opinium Research, commissioned by RenewableUK, shows that two-thirds of voters (67%) who supported the Conservatives in the last general election, but currently intend to switch to Labour in the next election, think that the Prime Minister is not doing enough to increase the use of renewable energy in the UK, and 57% of these swing voters say the Government is not investing enough in the green economy or taking sufficient action on climate change. In contrast, only 7% of ‘switching’ voters and 6% of current Conservative voters think the Prime Minister has gone too far in increasing renewable energy use in the UK.

Following the announcement by Vattenfall that it is stopping the current development of its Norfolk Boreas offshore wind farm project, and that it is reviewing its Norfolk Zone projects, RenewableUK’s Chief Executive Dan McGrail said:

Three energy trade associations, RenewableUK, Energy UK and Scottish Renewables, have written a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps, urging the Government to make urgent changes to their annual clean power auctions, known as Contracts for Difference (CfDs). The trade bodies have put forward a series of recommendations to lower energy bills by maximising private investment in renewable technologies, while also ensuring that we grow industrial supply chains throughout the UK, creating tens of thousands of high-quality well-paid jobs.

RenewableUK has welcomed commitments made in a speech today by the Labour MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, at the Global Offshore Wind 2023 conference and exhibition in London. During his keynote address to industry leaders, Mr Miliband said:

RenewableUK’s latest EnergyPulse market intelligence data report shows that the UK’s pipeline of offshore wind projects has reached 97,944 MW, up from 91,287MW a year ago, while the global pipeline topped 1.23TW, an increase of nearly 400GW in the last year.

A report published this week by RenewableUK urges the Government to work closely with our world-class green hydrogen industry to implement new policies to enable us to step up the rate at which we build major projects as fast as possible. This would allow us to seize the opportunity to develop a new market big enough to grow new supply chains and kickstart a major new green energy industry at scale in the UK.

The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) welcomes the publication of a report by the Government’s Offshore Wind Champion Tim Pick, setting out how the sector can work with the Government to speed the development of vital UK offshore wind projects which are necessary to meet the UK’s clean energy targets for 2030 and beyond.

New statistics released by the Government show that Britain’s wind farms set new annual electricity generation records in 2022, producing enough power to meet the needs of 22.8 million homes.

A new report published today by RenewableUK calls for the Government and devolved administrations to reform planning rules to enable green hydrogen projects to be built swiftly around the country, as they will play a key role in our future energy system.

Government’s energy announcements do not go far enough to secure sufficient investment in renewables

Responding to the Government’s Energy Security Day media statement, RenewableUK’s Executive Director of Policy Ana Musat said:

Commenting on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, RenewableUK’s Executive Director of Policy Ana Musat said:

RenewableUK is warning that the plans set out today by the Government for this year’s round of auctions for contracts to generate clean power (Contracts for Difference) will not maximise investment in wind, solar and tidal projects.

A new report by the Floating Wind Offshore Wind Taskforce says up to 11 ports around the UK will need to be transformed as fast as possible into new industrial hubs to enable the roll-out of floating offshore wind at scale. The report contains a series of recommendations which could see 34 gigawatts (GW) of floating wind installed in UK waters by 2040 if the Government takes swift and decisive action. At present Ministers have set a target of 5GW by 2030.

RenewableUK is publishing new statistics today which show that over the entire winter period, low carbon power sources (renewables and nuclear) generated over 60% of Britain’s total electricity generation (56.13 terawatt hours).

RenewableUK has responded to the Government’s consultation on how to reform the planning system to bring back onshore wind in England by pointing out that the new proposals by Ministers do almost nothing to remove the current de facto ban.