Earlier this year, RenewableUK revealed a number of fresh announcements that highlighted the full extent of the UK’s booming business environment for the offshore wind industry and its supply chain. We take a look at the current state of play in Europe’s wind energy powerhouse.
Three massive boosts to the offshore industry in Britain were announced in early 2015. Firstly, the global manufacturing company CS Wind has confirmed that it’s planning to build an offshore wind turbine tower manufacturing plant in the Humber region – the first factory in the UK to build commercial offshore wind towers. This could generate up to 200 direct jobs in the area.
Meanwhile, two major offshore wind developers have signed an agreement to jointly develop the Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm, 20 miles off the coast of Lincolnshire and 28 miles from the coast of North Norfolk. RWE Innogy and Statkraft have announced that they’re entering into a 50/50 partnership to deliver the 900
megawatt project, powering the equivalent of about 800,000 UK households a year.
In addition, Ofgem has announced that it has awarded a licence to a British consortium to own and operate the £352 million transmission cable connection to RWE’s Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm, off the coast of North Wales. The link allows the world’s second largest windfarm access to the onshore grid.
As RenewableUK’s Director of Offshore Renewables, Nick Medic, said: “This flurry of good news announcements will do much to consolidate confidence in the UK’s world- leading market for offshore wind. The benefits to the UK are clear: thousands of new job opportunities, millions more in investment, and a great deal more home-grown clean electricity enhancing our energy security. These announcements demonstrate that if you want to do business in offshore wind, Britain is the go-to destination”.
