Offshore wind increases could supply half of UK’s power demand

In 2018, Europe installed a massive 2.6 gigawatts of new offshore capacity, with a total of 15 new offshore wind farms being commissioned over the year.

Leading the way in offshore wind were the UK and Germany, accounting for 85% of the new capacity together. Overall, the UK commissioned 1.3GW of new offshore wind generation. Europe’s total capacity now stands at 18.5GW.

CEO of WindEurope, Giles Dickinson, commented:

"Offshore wind now represents two percent of all the electricity consumed in Europe. And with a big pipeline of projects under construction and development, this number will rise significantly."

A report from the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) says that this technology could be the most cost effective route to a low carbon UK, and estimates that offshore wind could provide at least half of the UK’s electricity needs in the future.

The OWIC report showcases a wide variety of opportunities for UK businesses to become involved in the supply chain relating to wind energy. They propose that the government should announce more ambitious targets to migrate from fossil fuels, increasing the taxes relating to carbon emissions as incentive.

They also say that encouragement of consumers to choose green tariffs will enhance the development of wind energy. They note that none of the big six offer a low carbon tariff, and that this is often left to niche independent energy suppliers who provide power to small groups of consumers.

They recommend that Ofgem ensure consumers have more visibility of choice, in order to stimulate the market for low carbon energy generation. As part of this recommendation, they suggest domestic energy suppliers are required to publish the mix of zero emission and carbon emitting energy sources on every energy bill.

It’s an interesting suggestion, although probably not one which will get a great deal of support from larger suppliers.

 Smaller independent energy suppliers who offer truly ‘green’ tariffs would certainly support the move.

As well as potentially taking care of half the UK’s energy needs, offshore wind is predicted to become the most cost effective renewable technology in the near future.

Onshore wind is cheaper to install than offshore systems. However, new innovations such as larger turbines with longer blades are making offshore systems more efficient, and analysis from Cornwall Insights suggests it could overtake onshore in terms of cost per MWh within the next 10 years.

The Wind Europe report noted that the size and scale of offshore turbines had increased in2018, with the average per turbine now standing at 6.8MW. That’s an increase of15% compared to the size being installed in 2017.

Planning regulations relating to onshore wind provision continue to negatively affect the profitability of such developments. Unless policy changes are made at governmental level, offshore wind is destined to overtake onshore provision as the cheapest source of renewable electricity in the UK.

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