UK Offshore Wind Industrial Growth Plan published today

Ambitious plans with the aim of tripling offshore wind manufacturing capacity over the next 10 years have been published today, as part of an Industrial Growth Plan (“IGP”) commissioned by RenewableUK, The Crown Estate, Crown Estate Scotland and the Offshore Wind Industry Council.

The UK ranks second, only to China, in terms of the size of its forward pipeline for offshore wind development – nearly 100GW. This sector is only set to grow, with over 120 nations committing to tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030 following COP28 last year; and offshore wind is set to benefit from this as technology improvements have enabled significant cost reductions in the sector. This creates considerable opportunities for expansion with the industry supply chain and here is where the UK market is set to benefit. Estimates suggest that this opportunity is worth up to £92bn by 2040 benefitting the entire supply chain for projects, including cable manufacture, substations and electrical design, steel fabrication and services related to offshore working. 

Key Market Positioning

The stated aims of the IGP are to (i) grow supply chain capacity to accelerate and de-risk delivery; and (ii) grow market share in both the UK and globally through a focus on five key technologies. The plan conducts a detailed analysis and forward-looking prioritisation of those five key technologies, which are:

• Advanced turbine technology;
• Industrialised foundations and substructures;
• Future electrical systems and cables;
• Smart environmental services; and
• Next generation installation and O&M

These areas are sectors where the UK already has considerable capacity and demonstrated success. For example, the UK is established within the cable supply market particularly for the supply of offshore wind farms in Europe and significant demand is expected to lead to global supply chain constraints for array and offshore cables within the next three years. The IGP positions the UK domestic market as being well-placed to build on the pre-existing capacity in these technologies to take advantage of current weaknesses in the global supply chain.

The success of this ambitious plan is dependent on securing sector-wide support and sufficient funding to enable the ROI on these key technology areas to be unlocked. The targets are ambitious for the existing UK market and there will be stiff competition globally to maximise on these opportunities.

Click here to view the report