Wales’ Minister for Economy, Vaughan Gething, outlined four key priority areas the Welsh Government are working on to support the successful deployment of offshore wind in Wales.
In an address to delegates at Renewable UK’s annual Global Offshore Wind conference in London, he told delegates:
“Looking to the future, I believe both fixed and floating offshore wind could and should drive high value investment in manufacturing, engineering and operations and maintenance. We are working in partnership with both the UK Government and The Crown Estate as well as our other key partners to maximise this significant opportunity for the UK, and Wales is in a strong position to support, contribute and benefit.”
The Minister went on to outline the Welsh Government’s commitment to grid investment through their work on ‘Future Energy Networks for Wales’, which aims to give network operators and stakeholders a shared view on the infrastructure needed across regions to reach net zero. He also touched on the market need to provide investors with certainty on the long-term pipeline in the Celtic Sea, to drive investment in port infrastructure, and to work with partners across industry, trade unions and further and higher education to deliver the Net Zero Skills Action plan for Wales.
Responding to the Minister on a panel discussion addressing the roadmap to achieving a floating offshore wind target of 50GW by 2050, Jess Hooper, Director for RenewableUK Cymru said,
“With 80% of the world’s potential offshore wind resources in deeper waters, we must recognise floating wind as the enabler of our net zero and energy security ambitions. The Celtic Sea will play an increasingly significant role in that ambition, but this is still an industry in the early stages of development, and there remains significant barriers that must be addressed in parallel if we are to stay on track with decarbonising business, industry and wider society.”
Commenting on the UK FLOW Task Force, a body composed of industry leaders, senior Governmental officials and key stakeholders, Andy Reay, Head of Offshore Wind at Associated British Ports said:
“We welcome the taskforce working on a vision of how we build out to 2050, but we cannot wait another year for the £4bn of investment needed in our ports to start flowing. We need to pick some winners now and start spending.”
Scottish Power Renewables Gillian Noble, UK Managing Director for Offshore Development and Operations at Scottish Renewables, focused on how to drive market certainty, saying,
“The UK would suddenly become very attractive on the global market place if we had a leasing round stretching out to 2050.”
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For further information, please contact:
- Abi Beck, Communications Manager, RenewableUK Cymru 07947 765 978 [email protected]
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