04/08/2022

Offshore wind plays central role in PM’s ambitious Energy Security Strategy

The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) welcomed the publication today of the Prime Minister’s British Energy Security Strategy, which envisages a fivefold increase in offshore wind capacity to 50GW by 2030, including a world-leading target of 5GW of floating wind.

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The Government has also committed to reforming the planning process so that consenting decisions on offshore wind farms are taken within a year, rather than the current 4-year average.

The strategy also sets a new hydrogen target of 10GW by 2030, half of which will be green hydrogen generated from renewable sources, mainly offshore wind.

OWIC’s Co-Chair Danielle Lane, Vattenfall’s UK Country Manager, said: “It’s great to see that the Prime Minister is determined to work closely with the industry to ramp up the UK’s offshore wind capacity rapidly over the course of this decade to five times its current level, putting it at the centre of his ambitious energy security strategy.

“To achieve this the planning process needs to be far more agile than it is currently, so we particularly welcome his commitment to ensure that consenting decisions will take no more than a year in future. We need to increase Britian’s energy security as swiftly as possible and industry will work with Government so that the planning process enables projects in the right locations and protects our marine environment.

“We also need to see faster progress on installing vital new grid infrastructure so that we can make the most of the enormous amounts of clean electricity we’re generating offshore.

“Innovative technologies like floating wind and green hydrogen also have key roles to play. The world-leading 5GW target for floating wind set by the Prime Minister will help to kickstart a whole new British industry manufacturing cutting-edge technology which we can export worldwide.

“Electricity generated by offshore wind will also be used to make green hydrogen, which offers us enormous flexibility as it can be used in a wide range of sectors to replace gas, so we’re pleased to see an increase in the hydrogen target and a recognition of the importance of this technology in our future energy mix.

“New offshore wind is one of the UK’s cheapest sources of new power, with costs plummeting by two-thirds in the space of just four years, so it has a key role to play in reducing consumer bills in the years ahead”.