UK Offshore Wind Industry Increasingly Locally Sourced
The UK offshore wind industry is increasingly being sourced by products from within local communities, according to a new report.
The report, commissioned by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, The Crown Estate, and RenewableUK on behalf of the Offshore Wind Programme Board, analyzed data supplied from 10 UK offshore wind farms, which themselves make up almost 80% of the UK’s current operational offshore wind capacity. The analysis found that 43% of the current cost of planning, building, and running the UK’s offshore wind industry is funding UK companies. In fact, over the past year alone, approximately £840 million of investment made into the UK offshore wind industry has been retained by UK companies.
This puts the country’s offshore wind industry well on track to reaching its goal of sourcing 50% from local industry.
“We expect the amount of UK content to grow as more companies base their operations here,” said Benj Sykes, Co-Chair of the Government-Industry Offshore Wind Industry Council. “This includes the recent opening of a blade factory on the Isle of Wight, and Siemens’ landmark blade manufacturing and turbine assembly plant scheduled to open in Hull next year. This means more jobs and investment in local communities, proving that the offshore wind industry is making a substantial contribution to the British economy.”
The report was released alongside a new commitment by the UK offshore wind industry to report annually on UK content, made during the UK’s first Offshore Wind Week.
“By jointly committing to reporting on UK content, the offshore wind industry is showing how seriously it takes developing a strong and competitive UK supply chain alongside delivering clean affordable power to consumers,” added Sykes. “Offshore wind works, and with developers across the UK now reporting together on our contribution to the UK economy, we can more clearly demonstrate the value coming to businesses the length and breadth of the country. Already, we’re delivering 43% UK content, and are committed to increasing this level.”
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
CleanTechnica Holiday Wish Book
Our Latest EVObsession Video
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
For any industry local content, local employment helps the people who live there (perhaps except if it is FF).
These figures need to be regularly publicised as often news reports just focus on the overall cost per kwh or similar measure. If you have a reasonable amount of local content in the construction phases, and local employment and suppliers in ongoing maintenance, then it’s more beneficial for the economy than burning imported coal and gas where money constantly flows out of the country to pay for the imports. I guess my point is that even if wind was (for example) slightly more expensive than coal, local content can still make it a better choice than imported fossil fuels on an economic basis alone.
And that’s before considering pollution and other factors. This comparison doesn’t apply to countries who produce all their own coal and gas, obviously, but that doesn’t apply to much of Europe.