A new study on the future of offshore wind has illustrated the scale of potential of the UK seas for future deployment and is helping to understand and address how we best manage the various demands on our marine environment.
The Future Offshore Wind Scenarios (FOWS) project is intended to support the future development of offshore wind by illustrating the complex factors that must be balanced within the marine environment including consideration of the cost of energy. It provides a more holistic consideration of the complex interactions concerning offshore wind deployment out to net zero than was previously available and will help to inform future decision making.
The study - commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland, and carried out by Arup with support from ORE Catapult and ABPmer - provides the first illustrative framework for how the UK could deploy sufficient offshore wind to meet net zero.
FOWS is not a marine spatial plan, rather, it provides illustrative spatial scenarios for offshore wind development out to 2050. These investigate the potential implications for future relative deployment costs and offshore wind technology choice, in interaction with the environment, other infrastructure, and marine industries such as shipping and fishing.
The findings highlight the importance of approach in considering the spatial and cost implications of deploying sufficient offshore wind to meet net zero. They also identify the important role that floating wind could play, increasing deployment location options, with the potential to ease spatial pressures in UK waters. The study is a significant addition to the evidence base informing the future outlook for the offshore wind sector. It highlights the complexity of demands on the marine space and the holistic thinking that will be required by the many stakeholders that have a role or interest in securing the UK’s clean energy future and increasing the country’s energy independence by accelerating the roll out of low-cost renewables.
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Posted On: 26/04/2022