New UK offshore wind growth plan a ‘change in strategic direction,’ says sector chief

“The game has changed” in offshore wind and UK industry must focus on developing cutting-edge technology rather than competing on cost, said RenewableUK chief Dan McGrail as he launched a plan to turbocharge the country’s supply chain.

McGrail was speaking in London on Wednesday at a launch event for the Industrial Growth Plan, which aims to triple the UK’s offshore wind manufacturing capabilities in the next decade and boost its economy by £25bn ($31bn).

The renewables supply chain has become an increasing concern for governments the world over, with the US and EU among those to offer incentives to onshore clean tech manufacturing to, among other things, boost energy security.

McGrail said that the plan – co-authored by RenewableUK, the Offshore Wind Industry Council, The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland – marks a “change in strategic direction” for the UK.

This requires “collective buy-in from a sector embracing a position at the centre of the British economy, not just at the centre of energy.”

While the UK may need a cohesive plan to boost its offshore wind supply chain, McGrail said there is a “tiring narrative” that the UK has not had any success so far in this respect.

He highlighted blade factories established in the UK by European turbine-making giants Siemens Gamesa and Vestas, and an HVDC factory set up by America’s GE Vernova.

But the “game has changed,” said McGrail. “Each week yields a headline about a new leasing round in South-East Asia, the US, Latin America, Australia and the European heartlands.”

“There is a global sprint for clean energy,” he said. But the UK “will not out-compete others based on cost.”

The UK is a “high-cost economy,” said McGrail. “We actually want wages to increase in Britain. But we are also a high-value economy.”

“The automotive, aerospace, defence, space and pharmaceutical sectors are the North Stars for us here. Because in all these sectors, what the UK does is stay ahead in technology, always at the vanguard of the trends – anticipating, not following.”

“We have studied these sectors and others to build the framework for this plan.”

The UK energy secretary Claire Coutinho, who had been due to attend the launch event at the Science Museum in London, said in a recorded message that the plan offers an “incredibly exciting vision of future growth” and sends a “strong signal to supply chains and investors.”

As well as targeting key technologies like turbines and towers, she said it also highlights the potential to “drive further innovation through automation and AI, which the UK could and should be at the forefront of.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, McGrail stressed that – despite current heightened concern in the West around the question of using cheap Chinese green kit – the plan is “not advocating for a position with respect to Chinese technology.”

Neither is the plan “prescriptive” when it comes to sources of investment, he said.