Marking a year of huge progress for offshore wind

Twelve months on from the signing of the landmark Offshore Wind Sector Deal, Orsted's UK Country Manager for offshore wind business, Benj Sykes, looks back at just how far the industry has now come

The last year has been an extraordinary and exciting one for the offshore wind sector.

Just twelve months ago in March 2019 we were celebrating the signing of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal – with the Government and industry’s commitment to deliver 30GW of offshore wind by 2030. This will make offshore wind the backbone of the UK’s future electricity system – providing a third of the total supply.

Yet by the end of 2019, relentlessly falling offshore wind energy costs led to even higher ambitions with the Government committing to a 40GW target.

It’s worth taking a moment to reflect on just how far we’ve come – and how amazing this ‘new normal’ really is, compared to just a couple of years ago. To now be talking about delivering more than a third of our power from offshore wind at a price point that means the industry will be paying money back to the Treasury… by any measure that’s extraordinary progress.

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much

The progress we’ve made since the Offshore Wind Sector Deal was signed is a credit to everyone involved, including government. Our colleagues across industry and  government have been working hard to deliver on the deal, resulting in a new level of cooperation between the public and private sectors – which will in turn deliver low-cost, low-carbon electricity for households and businesses across the UK, as well as tens of thousands of jobs, billions of pounds in exports and tens of billions in investment.

This kind of transformation is clearly articulated in the goals we have set for ourselves – such as tripling headcount in the offshore wind industry, by directly employing over 27,000 people by 2030, with many more in the supply chain.

We must create new, equal apprenticeship and training opportunities for people of all backgrounds, gender and ethnicity if we are to hit these targets – and that includes supporting the transfer of former oil and gas workers and military personnel into our sector.

At Ørsted we are working hard to do our bit. Last month, we announced the opening of the fourth round of our coastal areas skills fund, which will see over £100,000 allocated to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) projects.

In addition to investing in talent we must keep nurturing the UK’s growing offshore wind supply chain, working with suppliers and established businesses across the country to build a world-leading supply chain and become an exemplar of the world class renewables industry.

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.

Let’s not fool ourselves – the low cost of electricity and ever-more competitive global market for offshore wind means challenging times for the UK supply chain. However, in tandem with these challenges comes a huge opportunity for UK businesses to tap into a global offshore wind market that could exceed 1,000GW by 2050. We must keep working in partnership with government to drive the productivity, innovation and entrepreneurship needed to make sure Britain is winning contracts at home and abroad.

Looking ahead, there’s still much work to do on the journey to 40GW and beyond. As we heard in the recent Budget – the UK will continue to apply an ambitious carbon price from 1st January 2021, to support progress towards reaching net zero.

The recently launched consultation on the CfD regime is also welcome. This is a vital policy for ensuring consumers keep paying the lowest possible price for clean electricity, and for attracting the investment needed to reach net zero.

This month alone, we’ve seen great progress regarding the UK’s overall energy mix – as the Government has announced a consultation to allow onshore wind and solar projects  to participate in CfD auctions. We’ve also seen the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy state offshore wind will play a major role in reaching the UK’s net zero goal.

And getting to net zero will mean going well beyond electricity, tackling emissions from heating and transportation. Yet there is good news here too.  Just last month we hosted Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng at our world-leading O&M hub in Grimsby, where he announced the next phase of government funding for our Gigastack renewable hydrogen project.

Our sector is at a turning point.

So, in these exciting, pivotal times I look forward to working collaboratively to address these challenges and fulfil this potential. By working in strong partnership with government, and across the sector, we will travel the next stage of this most important journey together.