New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Accelerating offshore wind development
19/7/2023
8 min read
Feature
Concerted action is underway to accelerate offshore wind development in the North Sea. However, ambitious expansion plans will need to address regulation and planning, technology innovation, declining government subsidy, grid connectivity issues and sustainability. New Energy World Features Editor Brian Davis reports.
The pace of development in the offshore wind sector has been remarkable. David Rowen, Chief of Business Development at Vestas, remarked at the recent RenewableUK (RUK) Global Offshore Wind conference that: ‘The offshore wind industry has gone from niche to a core energy system in just a few decades.’
What’s more, the UK is second only to China in terms of offshore wind development.
However, this is no time to sit on laurels. Climate Change Committee modelling shows we are at a critical point, and the industry needs to accelerate if it is to meet the UK government’s target of 50 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030.