E.ON backs offshore wind cost cutting plan
Energy giant E.ON today announced it will be investing into a pioneering industry initiative to slash the costs of offshore wind power.
E.ON is the latest investor to back the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) which was also recently bolstered with the addition of Mainstream Renewable Power and Statkraft. They team up with five founding members that include offshore wind developers: DONG Energy; RWE Innogy; ScottishPower Renewables; SSE Renewables and Statoil, who recently announced they will be extending their commitment to the OWA over the next four years bringing the total investment into the project to £9.2m.
Collectively the OWA partners represent 61% of the offshore wind capacity licensed in UK waters (30GW).
The OWA is one of the world’s leading technology research and development initiatives designed to reduce the total cost of offshore wind energy. Offshore wind structures are taller than the Gherkin and installation rates need to increase from less than one a week to as many as 2.5 per day by 2020 if we are to meet the UK’s 15% renewable energy target. The OWA has the objective to reduce costs by 10% over the next decade which would enable deployment to happen faster.
Michael Lewis, European Managing Director of E.ON’s Renewable business said. “E.ON has installed 64% of all offshore capacity in Europe so far this year, and we have another 4000MW of offshore wind in our project pipeline, so reducing the cost is of vital importance to us. The OWA will help focus the Industry’s efforts to tackle the big issues in a coordinated way and the results will benefit us all”.
Energy minister Charles Hendry said, “The fact that one of the world's largest and most important energy companies is joining this project shows just how serious investors are in the offshore wind potential of the UK. We’ve got the resource for a huge expansion of offshore wind and we want to make sure we harness the supply chain, investment and job potential that can bring.”
Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust, said E.ON’s investment was proof that energy companies are committed to developing innovative technologies to reduce cost and deliver the scale of offshore wind the UK needs to meet its renewable targets.
“In terms of the investment and scale of engineering, the UK’s offshore wind challenge is equivalent to building eight channel tunnels over the next ten years. To ensure the UK meets its target of 15% renewable energy by 2020, some £75bn of capital investment could be required without the benefit of new lower cost technologies. To succeed in the creation of a world leading offshore wind sector we need collaboration between industry and government to bring down costs by finding the most effective engineering solutions.
“This latest vote of confidence from E.ON is evidence that the OWA is delivering on its promise to improve the economics of offshore wind through targeted RD&D. Following the successful collaboration between the Carbon Trust and the five founding partners over the last year, OWA has developed breakthrough insights into key areas including foundations, wake effects and access systems. With funding for OWA now secured to 2014, and the number of partners growing from five to eight, OWA is well positioned to take a lead in driving down costs and ultimately benefiting the wider industry.”
Rob Hastings, Director of the Marine Estate at The Crown Estate said: “The Crown Estate is pleased that the Offshore Wind Accelerator has attracted further significant interest from the industry, a positive endorsement for its achievements to-date. Technical innovation is essential to substantially reduced offshore wind costs to realise UK development plans for up to 48GW of capacity. The Crown Estate will continue to work closely with the Carbon Trust to facilitate and support schemes like OWA.”
Maria McCaffery MBE, RenewableUK Chief Executive, said: “The Carbon Trust has played invaluable roles in stimulating offshore wind research and development and enabling private-public finance partnerships, both of which are crucial for the future growth of the sector. E.ON’s involvement in the Offshore Wind Accelerator is a ringing endorsement of this pioneering programme, which will eventually help deliver tangible economic benefits and help strengthen UK’s energy security.”
The OWA was launched by the Carbon Trust in 2008 to improve the economics of offshore wind and reducing the cost of energy by 10 per cent over the next decade. This collaborative industry initiative focuses on reducing capital and operating costs, improving yields and reducing financing costs.
About the Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust is a not-for-profit company with the mission to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy, providing specialist support to business and the public sector to help cut carbon emissions, save energy and commercialise low carbon technologies. By stimulating low carbon action we contribute to key UK goals of lower carbon emissions, the development of low carbon businesses, increased energy security and associated jobs.
We help to cut carbon emissions now by
- Providing specialist advice and finance to help organisations cut carbon
- Setting standards for carbon reduction
We reduce potential future carbon emissions by
- Opening markets for low carbon technologies
- Leading industry collaborations to commercialise technologies
- Investing in early stage low carbon companies
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