The UK is one of the most attractive locations in the world to invest in the offshore wind sector. There are huge development projects in the pipeline, as well as the prospect of long-term price stability.
With our recent announcements on Electricity Market Reform, the UK is the first country in the world to give funding clarity through to 2021, visibility of prices to 2018/19 and price certainty to projects awarded a “Contract for Difference” as well as a legally binding emissions target.
We’re doing all this because we see the climate imperative, and the business opportunity, of offshore wind.
The UK is now, and predicted to remain, the largest market in Europe. The government’s new Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy, published on 1 August, aims to deliver on this potential by promoting innovation, investment and economic growth in the UK supply chain.
The Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy was developed in partnership with industry. The Strategy was produced alongside the draft delivery plan for Electricity Market Reform (EMR). It builds upon the announcement of draft ‘strike’ prices for renewable technologies, including offshore wind, published on 27 June, giving industry clarity about the prices that might be offered under the new Contract for Difference (CfD) in EMR. I blogged about that at the time.
Measures set out in the Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy include:
- £20m from the Regional Growth Fund for GROW: Offshore Wind, a new Manufacturing Advisory Service programme to support the UK supply chain to become more competitive;
- £46m funding over five years for the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult Centre to join up innovation between industry, Government and academia and enable innovative companies to bring their products to market;
- Expansion of the scope of the DECC Offshore Wind Manufacturing funding scheme to support port and coastal infrastructure development in assisted areas of England. Any grants offered will be conditional on sites securing manufacturing investment.
The strategy can be found here. Or you can contact Daniel Nutley at the UK Embassy for more advice.