The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) and The Crown Estate have released a series of Regional Growth Prospectuses outlining how coastal areas around the UK can expand their roles within the offshore wind supply chain.
The documents detail how regional development could create or sustain an additional 10,000 jobs, on top of the 100,000 already anticipated in the sector, and contribute more than £25 billion to the UK economy by 2035.
The prospectuses build on the sector’s Industrial Growth Plan (IGP), which sets national priorities to increase domestic manufacturing of key components such as turbine towers, blades, foundations and cables, along with offshore wind farm construction, maintenance, and related high-value services like environmental surveying. The importance of port infrastructure is also emphasised, with ports seen as central to industrial and economic development.
Each document is focused on a specific offshore wind cluster—a coastal region where businesses in the sector are already active and where further growth is expected as the supply chain expands. The initiative originated from the OWIC clusters forum and has been developed in collaboration with the clusters themselves:
- Offshore Energy Alliance (North Wales and North West England)
- Celtic Sea Cluster (South Wales and South West England)
- EastWind Cluster (East of England)
- Humber Offshore Wind Cluster (Humber region)
- Energi Coast Cluster (North East England)
- Clean Energy Cluster (Scotland)
Northern Ireland Maritime & Offshore Cluster (Northern Ireland)
The South East of England is also recognised for its offshore wind potential and included in the analysis.
The prospectuses provide detailed assessments of which regions are best suited to deliver each priority identified in the IGP. Some areas already have large-scale facilities producing components such as blades and cables for export.
For example:
- Clusters in the Humber, north east England, Northern Ireland and Scotland could specialise in advanced turbine technology, including blade and tower manufacturing, potentially contributing £8 billion to the economy over the next decade.
- Seven clusters are developing capabilities for manufacturing turbine foundations, including large substructures for floating offshore wind, with a potential value of £12 billion by 2035.
- Four clusters are focusing on the production of cables and electrical systems, worth up to £3.4 billion.
- Opportunities worth £2 billion have been identified across seven clusters in installation, operations, and maintenance.
- Five clusters could lead in environmental services, with potential economic value of £0.5 billion.
