Report outlines how to reduce the cost of offshore wind

The government is aiming to deliver as much as 18GW of energy capacity (around 20 per cent of the UK’s total electricity demand) from offshore wind farms by 2020, but businesses believe this will only be achieved if costs fall dramatically.

To reassure businesses that offshore wind could meet the government’s expectations, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) unveiled a report by the industry-led Offshore Wind Reduction Task Force that suggests reducing the price of offshore wind by more than 30 per cent to £100 per megawatt hour (MWh) by 2020 is achievable with the help of technology and innovation.

DECC claims that, if the reduction is achieved, the cost of delivering 18GW of electricity from offshore wind farms will drop from £140/MWh to £100/MWh, saving more than £3bn per year.

Phil De Villiers, head of offshore wind at the Carbon Trust and leader of the trust’s £45m Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) programme, spoke to media earlier this week on the cost-reduction evidence he and his team submitted to the Offshore Wind Reduction Task Force prior to today’s report.