World outlook 2011–2015
435 new onshore wind turbines are built on 108 sites in the UK
2015
The Cameron government places new restrictions on onshore wind farm construction, essentially prohibiting it
2016–2020
New onshore wind turbines are constructed in seven locations in the UK
October 2019
Dogger Bank Wind Farms announces that GE will supply its Haliade-X turbine, the most powerful turbine in the world at the time, for the project
2020
75,000GWh of wind energy is produced, accounting for 20% of the UK’s total power generation. Onshore construction begins for Dogger Bank Wind Farm
Spring 2022
Offshore construction on Dogger Bank A begins
ambitious 50GWh 2030 target are only at concept stage. According to OEUK, these delays are largely bureaucratic, stemming from sluggish government planning and approval processes. To hit its aims, the OEUK estimates that the UK needs to install 3,200 new – and much larger – wind turbines by 2030: roughly three new turbines every two days. To accelerate development in the offshore
October 2022
The UK energy system hits 19.936GWh of wind generation in a single week, the highest yet recorded
2026
Dogger Bank is set to be completed, becoming the world’s largest offshore wind farm
2030
The UK has set a target of 50GWh of wind energy generation by this year
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sector, the organisation recommends that the UK Government implements key measures to overcome this stasis. These include cutting planning time from four years to one year, streamlining environmental assessment processes and implementing a fast-track planning process for ‘noncontroversial projects’. “We need a new remit for offshore wind,” Dickson says. “[Then] we can start investing in the grid infrastructure ahead of time because it takes longer to develop the infrastructure than it does the offshore wind farms themselves.”
Dickson points to the Contracts for Difference (CfD), designed to support low-carbon electricity generation and incentivise investment in renewable energy. “There needs to be clarity about the pipeline, the timeline and the schedule for the subsequent CfD auctions, because we need to increase the volume of new capacity that is being auctioned every year,” he advises.
All this power but no place to put it On the positive side of things, the UK has whipped up some impressive figures as far as wind generation is concerned. More than 75,000 GWh of wind energy was produced in 2020, accounting for 20% of the nation’s total generation. More recently, in October 2022, the British energy system hit the highest figures –19.936GWh) – for wind generation ever recorded in a single week.
The challenge is to harness all this wind into electricity without wasting enormous amounts of time, energy and money. Over a nine-month period, from September 2021 to May 2022, wind turbines in the UK produced enough renewable energy to power a UK city for an entire year – 1,300 GWh – but it was wasted because it exceeded the needs of the grid. “We’ve got these fantastic targets and ability to get investment into things like offshore wind, and we’re doing really, really well on that, but it’s actually the connection to the grid, which is slowing things down,” Tetlow says. John Pettigrew, head of the National Grid, has said as much. For the UK to hit its net zero goals, hundreds of miles of cables and pylons need to be installed across the country. These include four subsea high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) cables extending from wind turbines off the east coast to southern England to transfer wind-powered energy more evenly and efficiently.
Of course, the clamour from eco-minded charities, think tanks and more recently – unruly protesters – for an immediate overhaul of our energy sector will not carry much weight in the cabinet office right now. So far, the priority in Whitehall has been sourcing oil and gas from outside of Russia, not revamping the electric grid system.
Dickson advocates for a “realistic” political strategy that fulfils UK energy demands in the short term but understands the necessity to decouple from our overreliance on fossil fuels. “In the short term, it’s all hands on deck to ensure that people don’t have to choose between heating their homes and feeding their children,” he says. “Long term, it’s very different. Governments need to put in place measures and incentives that will accelerate the build-out of renewables, because that is our long-term exit from this crisis, and from an excessive dependency on Russian energy.”
Perhaps the most persuasive and alluring argument that can be levelled at prime minister Rishi Sunak for accelerating Britain’s wind energy transition is not the dire state of the climate crisis but astronomical gas prices. As Tetlow puts it: “The realpolitik here is that renewables are now cheaper than ever.” ●
World Wind Technology /
www.worldwind-technology.com
GE
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