The UK has committed to generating at least 15% of all its energy from renewable sources by 2020. As this date draws ever closer, the fast-evolving offshore wind industry is set to play an increasingly prominent role in helping us achieve this goal. We’re doing pretty well so far, with 1,500MW of operational capacity already on line – 50% of all the offshore wind power in Europe. By 2020, this could increase to 25,000MW.

However, the rapid pace of the industry’s development is bringing with it both challenges and opportunities. The main challenges include:

• Upgrading the energy infrastructure, especially the electricity grid, so it can cope with receiving and transmitting large amounts of offshore power
• Working to make the strategically-important, but highly vulnerable, undersea array and export cables more secure and less likely to fail
• Making sure construction and operational technologies keep pace with the demand for larger wind farms with a greater number of more powerful turbines that are being built further offshore and in deeper waters
• The availability of enough skilled and suitably trained personnel to work on the UK’s many current and future offshore wind projects.

If we can overcome these challenges, offshore wind will bring a range of economic and environmental opportunities and benefits to the UK, including:

• Short-term and long-term job creation. Since 2007, the number of jobs in UK offshore wind has increased by 91%, with 6,000 people currently employed in the industry.
• Low carbon energy. When all the Government’s Round 2 and Round 3 projects are completed, offshore wind could supply up to a third of the UK’s electricity demand (40GW). This means many conventional power stations won’t need to be replaced when they close in the next 10 to 15 years.
• Knowledge sharing. Utility companies and other firms have the opportunity to work together on wind farm projects, sharing their skills and knowledge so fewer products, services and resources need to be sourced from outside the UK.

With a cost of €3 to €5 billion per MW of capacity, it’s clear that the UK’s offshore wind market has massive potential both in the near future and for the longer term.

Wilding says: ‘To quote Renewable Energy World.com, the key to a successful offshore wind farm project is “...the involvement of experienced and skilled project managers and contractors.” We’re proud to work with many of these people, both clients and contractors, and play our part in building a brighter future for the UK’s offshore wind industry.’

Sources: Renewable Energy World.comand Achieving Business Excellence