UK 'must seize chance' to build offshore wind component factories
RenewableUK and The Crown Estate have published a report highlighting the ‘once in a generation chance’ to attract companies to the UK to build factories that will supply the offshore wind sector.
However, the study warns that unless the UK seizes this opportunity, the manufacturing advantage will be lost to our European competitors.
The study, Building an Industry, quantifies how many wind turbine factories and other manufacturing facilities - such as blades, cables and foundations - will be needed to fulfill the increase in demand up to 2020, not just from projects in UK waters, but to supply the rest of the European offshore wind energy sector too. It also specifies what the UK industry alone will need between now and 2030.
The government’s Renewable Energy Roadmap envisages the potential for 18GW of offshore wind installed by 2020 compared to the 3.3GW installed so far. The rest of Europe combined is expected to match this with another 18GW, to reach a total of 36GW by the end of the decade.
To install this, the report shows that Europe will need 64 major manufacturing facilities. Just over a third of these are already operational, and plans for a further third have been announced.
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