The large volume of viable offshore wind projects in the UK means total installed offshore wind capacity could reach more than 30GW by 2030, firmly placing it as the leading source of low carbon power in the country, Paul Cooley, Director of Generation Development at SSE plc, said.
By setting out the timetable of future CfD auctions, the UK government has provided the much-needed commitment to the offshore wind sector that developers and supply chain needed, according to Cooley.
However, whilst the UK Energy Minister Claire Perry has talked about 1-2GW of new offshore wind per year throughout the 2020s, SSE believes that the target could be higher still.
SSE currently has an offshore wind development pipeline totalling 3.3GW, including projects such as Seagreen , Greater Gabbard Extension , and Beatrice .
Earlier this year, the UK offshore wind industry committed to working with the UK government on a sector deal to help offshore wind reach the connected capacity of 30GW by 2030.