Up to £160 million of government funding is now available to developers and manufacturers looking to invest in UK large-scale floating offshore wind ports and factories.
It is expected that the £160 million will be boosted by private sector investment, helping to develop port infrastructure capable of mass-producing floating offshore wind turbines and installing them out at sea. This in turn will create thousands of new jobs while reducing the need to import from overseas, the government said.
Indeed, using the deep waters off the Scottish coast offers “huge opportunities” for Scotland’s coastal communities. Additionally, the Celtic Sea has also been identified as a major development opportunity for the offshore wind sector due to its combination of deep waters and strong winds.
The newly allocated funding will support the UK’s target of 1GW of floating offshore wind by 2030 outlined in the Ten Point Plan last year.
Last year also saw the Prime Minister announce a target of 40GW of offshore wind by 2030, with a separate £160 million scheme to upgrade ports and infrastructure for the conventional offshore wind industry.
“Floating offshore wind is key to unlocking the spectacular wind energy resource we enjoy in the UK, particularly in the deep waters around the coasts of Scotland and Wales,” said energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
“This new investment will put us in a leading position to capture the full economic benefit of this fast growing industry.”
In July, ScottishPower and Shell submitted proposals for what they said were the world’s first large-scale floating offshore windfarms, with these to be located in the north-east of Scotland.
Other UK floating wind projects include Equinor’s 30MW Hywind Scotland site, which began generating in 2017.
Current±’s publisher Solar Media is hosting the Wind Power Finance & Investment Summit in London over 7 and 8 December. Find out more here.
