The Crown Estate unveiled plans on Thursday (9 November) to unlock up to 4GW of offshore wind capacity.
The organisation, which manages the monarchy’s public estate, will free up additional seabed capacity to enable offshore wind developments to be expanded. This is of particular importance for the UK to achieve its offshore wind target of 50GW by 2030 – something that the nation is anticipated to narrowly miss.
Various projects could be set to benefit from this including: Awel y Môr, Dudgeon Extension, Sheringham Shoal Extension, North Falls, Five Estuaries, Rampion 2 and Dogger Bank D.
The Crown Estate announced the plans following requests from the developers of the seven offshore wind projects which believe additional capacity can be generated from the areas of the seabed they hold existing rights for.
Gus Jaspert, managing director of Marine at The Crown Estate, said: “As demands on the seabed intensify, we’re taking a more strategic, holistic and data-led approach than ever before to ensure we make the most of this vital resource and that each area of the seabed we lease is working as hard as it can to contribute to the needs of our country and nature.
“These proposed capacity increases make use of seabed areas that have been previously granted rights, are not being fully utilised, and may have limited options for alternative uses. We are therefore pleased to launch a process to examine whether this additional capacity can be made available in a way which remains true to our commitment to nature and biodiversity.”
It is worth noting that the projects under consideration will undergo an assessment process which will be defined by both The Crown Estate and the UK government in due course. This will “balance the needs of the industry with the needs of nature and the marine environment”.
This process will also ensure that projects proceed at pace with an aim of seeking a determination of additional capacity within 12 months, subject to regulated planning processes.
Dan McGrail, chief executive of trade association RenewableUK welcomed news of this additional capacity stating that it “represents a significant step forward”.
“Maximising the amount of offshore wind capacity we can install in areas where leasing agreements are already in place is vital to get us closer to the government’s target of 50GW by 2030,” McGrail said.
“Utilising these areas of seabed to the full could add up to 4GW, which is more than a quarter of the UK’s current offshore wind capacity, representing a significant step forward. Accelerating deployment in this way would make projects even more cost-effective through economies of scale, which is good news for consumers as well as creating further opportunities for us to grow our supply chain.”
UK remains leader in offshore wind but issues must be solved
The UK continues to be hailed as a global leader in the offshore wind sector with the nation having the second largest market in the world, generating 24% of the global offshore wind capacity, only behind China. Recently, wind was the biggest generator of electricity for the UK in October when it averaged 10.3GW across the month.
However, with Cornwall Insight predicting that the nation is expected to narrowly miss its offshore wind target by 2.9GW, the country must continue to spearhead its development and ensure the market does not stand still.
According to the organisation, one of the biggest barriers that could impact the offshore wind market and its deployment is rising costs. This has already been causing issues with the sector, as observed in the recent Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction round (AR5), which saw no offshore wind farms partaking. And, with the UK’s offshore wind pipeline nearing 100GW of capacity, more must be done to shelter the market from these rising costs.
Alongside this, Energy UK revealed earlier this year that the cost of capital, alongside Electricity Generator Levy and supply chain difficulties has caused costs in developing low carbon generation projects to increase by between 20% to 30%, with some quoting 50% for specific projects.
