More Offshore Wind Capacity in UK than Rest of World Combined

More Offshore Wind Capacity in UK than ROW

13.07.2014

More Offshore Wind Capacity in UK than ROW Combined

The UK has been the world leader in offshore wind since October 2008, with as much capacity already installed as the rest of the world combined.

Current UK Offshore Wind Energy figures are 22 Projects, 1,075 Turbines, 3,653 (MW) Offshore Capacity.

The total offshore generating capacity in UK waters provides around 8 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually, equivalent to the electricity consumption of around 2 million homes.

In addition to the capacity already installed a further 5.7GW is either in construction or has planning approval, and a further 12.3GW is in the planning system.

Industry projections see a total of around 8GW of capacity installed by 2016 and around 18GW installed by 2020, by which point offshore wind will supply between 18 and 20 per cent of the UK’s electricity annually.

Employment growth in the sector has been substantial since the numbers were first sourced in 2008 and now stands at around 6,830 full time employees.

Source: RenewableUK

Development Rounds

The first offshore wind farm in the UK was a near-shore installation in Blyth harbour, north east England, which started operating in 2001.

Since then, the sector has developed with a series of licensing ‘Rounds’ co-ordinated by the Crown Estate, the landlord and owner of the seabed.

In 2001 Round 1 was launched and is now almost complete. It involved 18 sites in England and Wales, and added a potential capacity of 1.5GW.

In 2003 Round 2 was issued, much larger and located further offshore and in deeper waters. It was formed of the three strategic areas; Greater Wash, Greater Thames and Irish Sea and when complete Round 2 will add another 7GW of capacity.

In 2010 Round 3 was released, this is the biggest so far and features nine zones across the UK. The largest, Dogger Bank, has the potential to generate up to 13GW of power and is one of the largest energy projects anywhere in the world.

Round 3 is set to enter construction from 2014 onwards and has a total of around 31GW already leased to developers.

In addition to Rounds 1, 2 and 3, there is a further development programme in Scottish Territorial Waters overseen by the Scottish government providing the potential for 5GW across 6 sites. In Northern Ireland a 2012 leasing round is now underway.