Thinktank calls for authority to oversee offshore development

A new authority should be established to oversee the North Sea’s development and ensure “uncoordinated” offshore wind farm growth does not deprive hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure of access to seabed space, an influential right wing thinktank has urged.

A new report by the Policy Exchange, published today (2 November), calls for the establishment of a UK Seas Authority.

The authority would coordinate development across the UK’s seas by producing Marine Plans.

It says the “increasingly congested” nature of the UK’s seas has created a risk that “uncoordinated” development of offshore wind farms could prevent the future use of areas of the seabed for hydrogen and CCS.

The thinktank warned that unless greater coordination is established, the UK’s “first come, first served” approach to planning will mean that the “full potential of the North Sea to deliver sustainable economic growth and Net Zero will not be achieved.

“The sheer range of technologies and the pace of development means that the government needs a coordinated plan,” it said.

The report’s authors found that exploiting the full potential of the North Sea could generate economic benefits of £20 billion per year and support a net increase of 40,000 direct jobs despite the continued employment losses anticipated in the declining oil and gas industries.

To spur this growth, the report said ministers should promote a “Net Zero triangle” connecting Humberside, Teesside and Leeds, featuring improved transport links within the area.

And new Minister for North Sea Development should be appointed to oversee growth efforts with greater powers for Metro Mayors in the region.

The report also backed a “more strategic” approach to the offshore power grid to ease pressure on coastal communities and called for the UK government to sign a new energy partnership with the EU by the end of the current Parliament in 2024.

It said that existing investment mechanisms like National Grid Electricity System Operator’s Networks Options Assessment (NOA), do not focus sufficiently on other spatial constraints like shipping lanes and fishing grounds.

And the report called on the government to make a final decision on the business models for hydrogen and CCS by mid-2021 in order to enable the early deployment of these technologies

It said markets and competitive procurement should be used where possible to reduce the costs of hydrogen and CCS, building on the successful approaches used to spur the offshore wind sector.

Will Nicolle, lead author of the paper, said: “The prime minister has said he wants the UK to be the ‘Saudi Arabia of wind power’. To achieve that, we’ll need a strategic approach in an increasingly crowded space.”

“To reach Net Zero, we need new frameworks and funding for things like hydrogen and carbon capture. The North Sea is absolutely central to that whole mission. Our research shows there’s a huge prize in terms of new jobs and local economic development. This means that the North Sea could hold the key to Boris’ levelling up agenda too.”

The report was supported by National Grid and was put together with input from the consultancy Frontier Economics.