Offshore wind will be the backbone of a carbon neutral, climate-friendly UK economy and the new Sector Deal sets out that opportunity, according to Vattenfall’s UK Country Manager Danielle Lane.
Lane claims the Sector Deal underlines the importance of ensuring the UK sees the benefit of its Clean Growth Strategy in which offshore wind will play a crucial role by delivering up to a third of the electricity demand by 2030.
Vattenfall’s UK Country Manager expects the agreement to deliver significant economic benefit through either high levels of business opportunity for firms or developing the needed skills from a diverse workforce.
In 2017, as RenewableUK reported, 48% of expenditure in offshore wind went to UK firms from offshore wind and the Sector Deal expects this to grow. To hit at least 30GW of installed capacity by 2030, GBP 48 billion will be invested by developers and the deal targets 60% of the investment going to the UK supply chain, Lane believes.
The growth of workforce will see 36,000 people working in offshore wind by 2032 if the upper end of the ambitions is realized, Lane said, emphasizing that the Sector Deal wants a third to be women, which is 16% more than currently.
If the UK’s 4GW offshore wind pipeline of new projects is built in the 2020s, a positive investment story will be created by building a diverse, long-term workforce including thousands of people, in construction and operation, Lane said.
Lane concludes that i t takes some ten years to start generating power from a large offshore wind farm, so the UK’s current policy framework, combined with the Sector Deal’s vision, will determine the scale of the industry in the next decade.