The massive benefits Britain could enjoy from offshore wind in the years ahead were highlighted yesterday by electricity-system operator National Grid ESO.
These include up to £54billion of investment and the creation of nearly 170,000 jobs by the end of this decade.
ESO has just published an integrated approach to support large-scale delivery of electricity from offshore wind for the nation.
The “pathway to 2030” documents, which include a holistic network design (HND), are said to represent one of the largest investment plans in critical electricity-transmission networks since the 1950s and 1960s.
ESO said: "By considering future offshore generation out to 2030, infrastructure can be planned to bring power to the grid cohesively, ensuring maximum benefit for consumers, while minimising impact for local communities and the environment.
"Developed with the transmission owners and working closely and in consultation with Ofgem, the UK, Scottish, and Welsh governments, offshore wind developers and environmental stakeholders, the HND primarily includes offshore wind projects that secured seabed leases through the Crown Estate's Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 and Crown Estate Scotland's ScotWind Leasing Round.”
The HND is said to be a first-of-a-kind, co-ordinated design for offshore and onshore transmission infrastructure to transport 23GW of British offshore wind, including locations off the Scottish islands and West Coast, the East Coast and Aberdeenshire.
But the BBC reports that the huge upgrade of the UK's electricity network would see a host of pylons and cables transporting power from offshore wind farms.
Design cannot be without impact
It adds that, while ESO has not stated if the new onshore cabling would be above or below ground, it acknowledged that "the nature of the infrastructure required means the design cannot be without impact".
Previously-announced onshore power lines, which are yet to be built, will span large areas of rural East Anglia to the anger and dismay of some.
Compared to a design which connected wind farms individually, ESO said the approach set out yesterday will:
- Save consumers £5.5billion in costs annually by 2030.
- Reduce the impact on the seabed with up to a 30% smaller footprint from cables coming to shore.
- Cut CO2 emissions between 2030 and 2032 by two mega tonnes - equivalent to grounding all UK domestic flights for a year - by facilitating the flow of cleaner, greener energy and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
ESO executive director Fintan Slye said: "ESO is at the heart of strategic planning of the future energy system and is actively contributing to Britain's energy security and a net-zero future.
“The publication of the holistic network design is a key step in providing certainty to offshore wind developers and mitigating potential impacts on the environment and local communities from energy infrastructure.
"It will also ensure the process provides value for money for consumers while meeting the Government's ambition for up to 50GW of offshore wind generation by 2030 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050."