Renewables Potential UK

The Offshore Valuation Group is an informal collaboration of government and industry organisations who have come together to address the question: what is the value of the UK’s offshore renewable energy resource?

They found that the resources exceeded expectations. In harnessing 29% of the practical offshore renewable resource by 2050:

• the electricity equivalent of 1 billion barrels of oil could be generated annually, matching North Sea oil and gas production and making Britain a net electricity exporter;
• carbon dioxide reductions of 1.1 billion tonnes would be achieved by the UK between 2010 and 2050 – a major contribution towards 2050 climate targets;
• 145,000 new UK jobs could be created by industry.

The infrastructure deployment required is similar in scale to that of oil and gas in recent decades. The major expansion of the supply chain this needs will not happen on its own, however, but will take strong and continuing support from government and industry in the coming years.

The only disappointment is the focus on offshore, its more expensive and has more drawbacks than on shore wind. However, its good to hear people talking about the huge renewable resources out there. In contrast to the Tories & Labour, who seem to think nuclear is the answer.