Offshore wind is set to power more than 30% of British electricity by 2030, Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry has announced with the launch of the new joint Government industry Offshore Wind Sector Deal.
The deal will:
- Increase the sector target for the amount of UK content in homegrown offshore wind projects to 60%, making sure that the £557 million pledged by the Government in July 2018 for further clean power auctions over the next ten years will directly benefit local communities
- Spearhead a new £250m Offshore Wind Growth Partnership to make sure UK companies in areas like the North ast, East Anglia, Humber and the Solent and continue to be competitive and are leaders internationally in the next generation of offshore wind innovations in areas such as robotics, advanced manufacturing, new materials, floating wind and larger turbines;
- Boost global exports to areas like Europe, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States fivefold to £2.6 Billion per year by 2030 through partnership between the Department of Trade and industry to support smaller supply chain companies to export for the first time;
- Reduce the cost of projects in the 2020s and overall system costs, so projects commissioning in 2030 will cost consumers less as we move towards a subsidy free world;
- See Crown Estate release new seabed land from 2019 for new offshore wind developments.
- UK government alongside the deal will provide over £4 million pounds for British business to share expertise globally and open new markets for UK industry through a technical assistance programme to help countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan and the Philippines skip dirty coal power and develop their own offshore wind projects
In addition, the deal will:
- Challenge the sector to more than double the number of women entering the industry to at least 33% by 2030, with the ambition of reaching 40% -up from 16% today;
- Create an Offshore Energy Passport, recognised outside of the UK, will be developed for offshore wind workers to transfer their skills and expertise to other offshore renewable and oil and gas industries – allowing employees to work seamlessly across different offshore sectors;
- See further work with further education institutions to develop a sector-wide curriculum to deliver a skilled and diverse workforce across the country and facilitate skills transfer within the industry;
- Prompt new targets for increasing the number of apprentices in the sector later this year
The UK Government has already invested in growing the offshore wind sector by:
- Confirming that clean electricity auctions will be held in 2019 and every two years from then into the 2020s, signalling support worth up to £557 million for industry.
- Supporting Local Enterprise Partnerships such as the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership to invest in skills and business support to maximise opportunities in the offshore wind sector.
- Supporting local communities to create new regional clusters and build on their science and innovation strengths
· with the £115m Strength in Places Fund to develop stronger local networks.