Boris Johnson’s plan to quadruple the size of the UK offshore wind industry will require $58 billion of investment and careful management of what’s a tricky building process in some of the world’s roughest waters.
The prime minister is targeting turbines with the capacity to produce 40 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, up from more than 10 gigawatts now. That would speed the nation’s shift away from fossil fuels and help it meet a goal of zeroing out carbon pollution by the middle of the century.
The difficulty is managing so many large infrastructure projects at once. Turbines these days are massive, with blades as big as a jumbo jet’s wingspan. They require highly specialized ships with giant cranes to do the installation, and developers compete to hire the few vessels that can do that work. The money needed to build all those facilities will require steady government policies that ensure the likes of Orsted A/S and Vestas Wind Systems A/S get paid regardless of political change.
It’s hard, but it’s possible, said Tom Harries, offshore wind analyst at BloombergNEF.
The goal Johnson set out in his speech to the ruling Conservative Party’s annual conference also would maintain the lead the UK built in offshore wind over Denmark and Germany. The government is keen to highlight that position as the UK separates from the European Union and prepares to host the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow next year.
Johnson’s remarks amount to a statement of political intent, a reassurance for industries that policies on whose power feeds into the grid will be tilted in favor of renewables and especially offshore wind power. Just seven years ago, Johnson was skeptical of wind power and favored nuclear energy. Since then, the price of atomic plants has surged while the cost of turbines that work offshore plunged. That forced a rethink within government, which increasinly favors wind as a primary source of clean energy.
Reassurance is crucial for wind developers. Unlike the oil companies, where drillers probe for for reservoirs and then worry later about how to sell it, wind developers generally leave investment decisions until after they’ve pinned down contracts setting a price for the electricity they will produce.
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