UK Gauging Offshore Wind Business Opportunities in US

Xodus has completed an analysis of the US offshore wind industry to determine potential opportunities for UK companies to enter the offshore wind market across the pond.

According to the study, a rapid expansion in products and services is currently required to deliver projects on time and on budget, due to a lack of maturity in the US offshore wind supply chain.

The analysis, commissioned by the British Consulate-General in Boston, Massachusetts, has found that there are multiple opportunities for experienced UK companies to become involved at early stages of industry development, assist from their home bases and leverage this acceleration to establish a local presence in the US.

“With the largest amount of installed offshore wind capacity anywhere in the world, the UK is a global leader in offshore wind and our private and public sector expertise is therefore uniquely equipped to play a vital role in the US”, said Dr. Peter Abbott OBE, British Consul General to New England.

“In order to better support British companies from the UK’s thriving Northern Powerhouse region, home to some of Britain’s most dynamic offshore wind clusters, we have appointed Hannah Webb as the British Consulate’s offshore wind and clean energy Trade Officer to develop long-lasting partnerships in New England and along the East Coast of the United States”.

Currently, all contracted offshore wind farms under development in the US are located on the east coast. It is anticipated that USD 80 billion in CAPEX expenditures will be made in developing the industry by 2030, and that up to 80,000 jobs will be created, Xodus states. The company added that with the recent Record of Decision granted to Vineyard Wind 1, the first commercial scale US offshore wind farm, federal approval for the other projects in the pipeline was anticipated to accelerate.

There is a push to develop local content in the US offshore wind industry, and states are eager to attract industries that support all phases of wind farm development, construction and operations. It is expected that these industries will cluster around eastern US ports, and the growth of a supporting supply chain will quickly follow, Xodus says.

“With the intel that Xodus is providing, we are working to understand the location and strengths of potential US supply chain hubs and strategizing successful market entry for companies from the Northern Powerhouse, UK. These companies have significant offshore wind development experience in the UK, Europe, and even Asia, to offer to the US market and we are building impactful partnerships around the clusters and ports that Xodus has identified along the East Coast of the US”, said Hannah Webb, Trade Officer of Offshore Wind and Clean Energy for the UK Department for International Trade.