UK government backs offshore wind power with £500m
The move will boost Vestas and Siemens Gamesa in particular as the two largest wind turbine suppliers. Gamesa has just started up the first of 84 off shore wind turbines, each the height of the Shard skyscraper in London, at the Beatrice off-shore wind farm. The €3.35 billion installation, 14km off the coast of Scotland, is expected to start commercial operation in 2019.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance predict that of the $11.5 trillion of investment to be invested in new power generation assets globally out to 2050, 73% to wind and solar.
“We want the UK to continue to be a leader in this global transition, and a leading destination for clean investment,” said Claire Perry, Energy and Clean Growth Minister for the UK government.
“Offshore wind is a success story for the UK – and we’re the world leader with over 7GW installed and operational. We’re announcing that the next auction for Contract for Differences Auction will open by May next year. And we plan to set out the parameters of the next auction later this year.”
This will boost the production of turbines, transformers and control electronics as the market doubles to over 16GW over the next five years.
“We understand that to make meaningful long-term investments, industry needs clarity over years, not months. That is why we are also announcing the intention to run subsequent auctions around every 2 years after that, using the £557 million that we have already announced,” said Perry.
Depending on the auction prices, this could see 1-2 gigawatts of new offshore wind every year in the 2020s, she says.
“Today’s announcement confirming the budget and timing of new auctions, sets us on the path do deliver the tens of billions of pounds of investment that will be needed to meet our ambition of at least 30 gigawatts by 2030,” said Hugh McNeal, chief executive of industry association Renewables UK. “This is good news for domestic supply chain which can look forward to a pipeline of new offshore wind projects that will support tens of thousands of jobs across the UK.”
“In giving companies long-term visibility, we should rightly expect long term commitments from them, and I look forward to working with the sector in the coming months to explore their ambitious plans to invest in the UK supply chain,” added Perry.
Related stories:
- SIEMENS GAMESA TESTS VANADIUM REDOX FLOW BATTERY IN SPAIN
- SIEMENS SUPPLIES GREEN 66KV SWITCHGEAR FOR UK WIND FARM
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
