Proactive Investors - Upgrading 11 UK ports will be key in building floating offshore wind farms, which could generate £26.6bn by 2040, according to climate group RenewableUK.
Some £4bn will be needed to retrofit ports for mass processing of offshore wind turbines by the end of this decade, a report from the Floating Offshore Wind Taskforce found, unlocking the potential or 34Gwof capacity to be installed in UK waters by 2040.
This would be higher than the entire UK average demand over the past year, of 30.1Gw, playing a “key role” in decarbonising the energy sector, and shielding the UK from market volatility.
Up to five ports will be needed in Scotland to install turbines, alongside two on the Celtic Sea to service the farms, the group said, with at least four more for UK manufacturing.
“Floating wind farms can be built in deeper waters, further from the coast, where wind speeds are even higher,” RenewableUK explained, reducing the risk of turbines not turning in sub 8mph gusts.
Installing 34Gw would generate £4.50 for every £1 invested, said the report.
Current targets are for 5Gw of floating capacity to be installed by 2030.
“At the moment there are no port facilities in this country which are fit for the mass deployment of floating wind,” said RenewableUK tech policy analyst Laurie Heyworth, “so we need to start revitalising them now as new industrial hubs”.
BP PLC, Shell PLC and SSE PLC were among the developers granted licences during the ScotWind leasing round in January 2022.
The Crown Estate, which awarded the permits, joined the calls for port upgrades, claiming "Joint working between ports, industry and governmental bodies" was essential.
The UK accounts for one-fifth of the global pipeline for floating wind, but a mass rollout of the generators will require a manufacturing site near ports, more ships and larger cranes, it added.
The report, co-written by UK ministers, developers, the Crown Estate and climate groups, comes just two days after TotalEnergies SE saw plans approved to install floating turbines off the Welsh coast.