Wind power in the U.K contributed about 7.7 percent of the U.K’s electricity in 2013, up from 5.5 percent in 2012, a 38 percent increase year over year, according to the latest report from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
Onshore wind capacity increased by 1.6 GW over the same period, bringing total installed capacity to 7.0 GW by the end of June 2013. Generation rose to 14.2 TWh for the year July 2012 to June 2013, increasing by 2.8 TWh on the year before.
Between July 2012 and June 2013 offshore wind increased by 1.0 GW, bringing the total installed capacity to 3.5 GW. Generation rose to 9.7 TWh for the year July 2012 to June 2013, increasing by 3.5 TWh on the year before.
The government is focusing on efforts to produce guidance for potential supply chain business on how to access the opportunities provided by onshore wind developments. DECC will also conduct a supply chain event later this year.
Through the Electricity Market Reform (EMR), the government is putting in place the market framework to enable strong continued investment. The Government’s draft Delivery Plan for EMR set out the potential ranges for deployment for renewable technologies – with our modeling indicating, for example, up to 16 GW of offshore wind by 2020, and as much as 39GW by 2030.
The government has also set a healthy set of deployment pipelines for renewable electricity technologies. The deployment pipelines show that there is UK Renewable Energy Roadmap Update 2013.
There has been significant growth in the offshore wind pipeline with total capacity increasing from 10.6 GW to 15.1 GW at the end of June 2013. This has been driven by developments in Scottish Territorial Waters and in the UK’s Round 3 zone formally entering the planning consent regime. A number of significant offshore wind projects, with an estimated capacity of around 5 GW have entered the planning system since the end of June 2013, the report said.
The Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy has set out a vision for the UK offshore wind industry to build a competitive and innovative UK supply chain that delivers and sustains jobs, exports and economic benefits for the UK, supporting offshore wind as a core and cost-effective part of the UK’s long-term electricity mix.
Danny Alexander with former TAG CEO Alex Dawson and Danny Brennan, Plating Apprentice, said, “Offshore wind is a major part of our need to meet our future energy requirements and we need to make sure that British businesses and British workers are getting the benefit from that.”