By Prof Lars Johanning, Professor of Ocean Technology, University of Plymouth
At the same time as wave energy continues to be developed through projects such as WEDUSEA, other exciting renewable energy technologies are also being accelerated around the world.
This week has seen a significant milestone in the development of floating offshore wind in the UK.
The Crown Estate has announced it is set to partner with Equinor and Gwynt Glas – a joint venture between EDF Renewables UK and ESB – to drive the creation of new jobs and economic growth through new floating windfarms off the coasts of Wales and South West England. The first three floating windfarms, will be able to generate up to 4.5GW of electricity – enough to power more than four million homes. As the first floating wind farms in the UK outside of Scotland, this marks a new phase for offshore wind in England and Wales.
The new windfarms will be among the largest of their kind in the world, underlining the UK’s position as the leading market for floating offshore wind in Europe and expected to lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs and more than a billion-pound investment in the UK economy.
Floating offshore wind is an exciting new technology which enables turbines to be located in deeper waters than is possible with fixed-base windfarms, unlocking new areas of seabed such as the Celtic Sea for the generation of secure clean renewable energy.
One important aspect this development highlights is the enormous potential of renewable energy to create benefits for the economy.
I was pleased to contribute to independent research commissioned by the Crown Estate last year. The study The Celtic Sea Blueprint showed that supply chain and infrastructure opportunities arising from the development of new floating wind farms off the coast of South Wales and the South West England, could support the creation of 5,300 new jobs and deliver a £1.4 billion boost to the UK economy.
The economic benefits are wide-ranging, opening up opportunities for manufacturers and the supply chain, from cables to platform construction to port development, creating thousands of new jobs and skills.
Although this announcement is about floating wind farms, It highlights several aspects that are equally relevant to wave energy and WEDUSEA.
Success comes through partnership working. This week’s exciting announcement is the culmination of years of research development and innovation work across the private and public sector and academia. It shows what can be achieved when industry, trade organisations, local communities and governments work together to make a vision a reality.
Development work takes significant investment to get right. The work that has culminated in this week’s announcement has been taking place for over twenty years. The scale of the innovation required and the complexity of the issues are such that it requires significant investment of time and funding before bearing fruit. The WEDUSEA project is benefitting from the forward looking approach of the EU Horizon programme as well as investment in the future by our cross-border partnership.
The benefits of renewable energy are economic and societal as well as environmental. The scale of the economic benefits expected from the development of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea highlights the huge value that new renewable technologies can bring to local communities and supply chains.
At the WEDUSEA project, we are excited to see this milestone achieved by the floating offshore wind industry and see it as a testament to the viability of innovative renewable technologies, a forerunner of the kind of success we expect to see for wave energy too.
