For the UK offshore wind sector remains a competitive and sustainable long-term industry, an “ambitious” government is needed, offshore wind leaders agreed at Scottish Renewables’ recent Offshore Wind and Supply Chain Conference.
Major European offshore wind players including DONG, Siemens, SSE and EWEA attended the conference to discuss the future of the sector ahead of the results of CfD deliberations.
“There are a lot of reasons for us all to be optimistic about this sector, but we need a much more stable political environment in which to operate,” said Jonathan Cole, managing director, ScottishPower Renewables, which represents the renewable energy industry in Scotland.
But, the sector is optimistic when it comes to the “ambition for Scottish waters”, which already has six consented projects totalling up to 4.15GW.
In addition, the UK was hailed as the focus of the world’s offshore renewables industry, but BVG Associates’ Alan Duncan warned jobs won’t come easy. “We must look at what we can do to displace existing supply chains in Denmark and Germany,” he said. “Be assured though, the UK will continue to lead the world in offshore wind to 2030, and there is no other industry which gives us the chance to do that.”
Cost reduction in the industry was also a hot topic at the event. Benj Sykes, country manager for DONG Energy’s UK wind power business said keeping costs down would mean a larger industry, and hinted that future certainty from government would be the single thing most likely to drive success.
“We need the next government to be ambitious and speedy about deploying the reminding funds in the levy control framework. We need to see what the runway looks like post-2020. Essentially, we need some sense of direction and scale,” he concluded.
Because of this, conference attendees agreed that 2015 looks to be a year of uncertainty and challenges.
By Rachael Doyle
