The UK’s infrastructure must evolve to meet the wind revolution

The prime minister’s pledge to “Build Back Greener” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic by generating enough offshore wind energy to power every home in the country by 2030 is a bold step forward. The commitment is good news for the greening of the energy sector, and for jobs in construction, engineering, and related sectors, and the wider economy.

The UK’s offshore wind sector is already a major success story, but as the country drives towards meeting this target in the coming years, major challenges lie ahead. An evolution in the energy sector will be required.

Done properly, offshore wind improves grid reliability and resilience, reduces congestion and adds capacity, whilst providing economical access to a renewable source of power. But the steep development trajectory that comes with the government’s commitment will create challenges for supply chain and labour resources.

The government has said the UK’s wind power ramp up will see around 2,000 construction jobs created quickly and will enable the sector to support up to 60,000 jobs directly and indirectly by 2030. This is undoubtedly a positive, particularly with impending rises in unemployment. But with more jobs demand comes more skills demand, and the UK already has significant skills pressures to contend with. The number of engineers needed to create new offshore wind infrastructure will be significant. Sufficient investment in training and upskilling across the energy economy will therefore be critical.

In order to build on the advances of the offshore market in the UK, the government must continue to work together effectively with the private sector, and ensure it instils confidence through its growth commitment. The UK’s electricity networks have a key role to play in supporting the government’s ambition. Transmission infrastructure must be updated across every network to ensure electricity generated is effectively and efficiently distributed to every single home. The national grid will require adaptation and expansion to reach the places where the new offshore wind power will come ashore.

Similarly, the way the offshore transmission network is configured will need to change to enable efficiency and public acceptance.  Deeper offshore windfarms will require the realisation of new technology, including floating windfarms. These have been in development for some years but not widely rolled out – it is time they were deployed at scale.

For offshore wind to be successful as capacity increases, greater inter-country cooperation with Europe will be necessary. The UK should consider joining the North Sea Wind Power Hub, a proposed energy island complex to be built in the middle of the North Sea, to help facilitate an increase in wind power generation capacity. Dutch, German, and Danish electrical grid operators are already cooperating in this project to help develop a cluster of offshore wind parks with a capacity of several gigawatts. The UK would be well served in joining them.

Additionally, the UK’s regulatory framework will need to adapt to enable the energy transition the government has set out. Ofgem must avoid becoming a potential blocker to the transition, by supporting innovation and enabling flexibility in the system. It should therefore consider the government’s policy commitment in its final determinations for RIIO T2 and T3 so that it can respond to impending changes in a timely and effective manner.

The industry needs to be mindful of the significant impact this step change will have on the distribution system. In his speech announcing the commitment, the prime minister focused on the impacts of increased wind power generation on individual households: “Your kettle, your washing machine, your cooker, your heating, your plug-in electric vehicle – the whole lot of them will get their juice cleanly and without guilt from the breezes that blow around these islands…” But at present, not every street can cope with multiple electric vehicles for every household. The problem must be solved dynamically through solutions such as the installation of smart meters, by putting customers in greater control of their energy usage, and by large-scale energy users coming together to solve challenges at a local level. Energy generators based in the community and closer to electricity consumers will be able to solve hyper-local problems by leveraging local infrastructure.

All of this will require a whole system approach to energy transition. Using hydrogen for major industrial sites and heavy transport and home heating needs careful consideration. There will be many technical roles which will need retraining and upskilling; from heating technicians learning how to install hydrogen boilers and heat pumps, to system planners. A new breed of “whole-system engineers” will be required, who understand both the electricity and gas networks and how they can work together.

We have more than enough wind to meet the entire UK’s electricity needs many times over – once the infrastructure is in place. Whole system changes, dynamic collaboration between sectors and countries, and regulatory evolution will ensure our infrastructure base is up to the transition.