Crown Estate highlights that, having passed 5GW capacity, UK now has more offshore turbines than the rest of Europe combined pushing UK renewable energy output for the first time above nuclear.

Continued investment in offshore wind electricity generation capacity has positioned the UK as a the European leader in offshore renewable market and for the first time pushed renewable energy generation output beyond that of nuclear power.

According to new analysis by the Crown Estate, offshore wind accounted for 4% of UK electricity generated in 2014, taking UK renewables generation to 22% and outperforming the nuclear output (19 per cent) for the first time.

The report highlights that Britain’s offshore wind fleet generated a record 13.4 terrawatt hours (TWh), sufficient to meet the needs of almost 3.2M households and up 18% from 2013.

“With the UK’s offshore wind portfolio on course to double by the end of the decade, this report demonstrates how the sector has established a strong investment proposition underpinned by secure and low carbon energy and is working hard to bring down costs,” Huub den Rooijen the Crown Estates

And, it says, since the report was produced, he UK has reached another major milestone - 5GW of operational capacity, with a further 0.7GW under construction and 5GW in the near to mid-term pipeline.

“The UK has more offshore wind turbines than the whole of the rest of Europe put together,” said Huub den Rooijen, head of offshore wind at The Crown Estate. 

“With the UK’s offshore wind portfolio on course to double by the end of the decade, this report demonstrates how the sector has established a strong investment proposition underpinned by secure and low carbon energy and is working hard to bring down costs,” he added.

The report, entitled ‘Offshore wind: Operational report 2015’, assesses the UK offshore wind power performance, the current development pipeline, main players and highlights how the industry is collaborating to boost performance and bring down costs.

It highlights that the UK offshore wind industry is making progress toward the goal of reducing the cost of electricity generated by offshore wind to below £100 per MWh by 2020.

The report coincided with publication of the Crown Estate’s annual report showing that, with the UK remaining the most attractive place to invest globally in offshore wind, its offshore wind portfolio has continued to be a key driver of its commercial success. 

Income generated by leasing the seabed to developers totalled £19.1M last year, up from £15.6M in 2013, with portfolio value increasing by 18% to £590M. A total of 4.6GW of operational offshore wind, with 813MW of new offshore wind farm capacity were on line last year accounting for more than half of all new installations across Europe.

 "We hope to contribute towards the sustainable development of the seabed to unlock value and help reduce the costs of offshore wind.” Huub de Rooijen, the Crown Estate

Offshore wind currently accounts for around 4% of the UK’s electricity demand and, estimates Crown Estate, is on course to meet around 10% of UK’s electricity demand with costs falling to below £100 per MWh, by 2020.  

The Crown Estate also today published a new modelled dataset for the UK’s offshore wind resource, which by working closely with the Met Office gives a more accurate picture of potential UK’s offshore wind resource to help inform offshore wind farm planning and development.

“We have worked closely with the Met Office to produce the best offshore wind resource data for the UK,” said Huub den Rooijen. “By making the dataset freely available on our Marine Data Exchange to different marine users we hope to contribute towards the sustainable development of the seabed to unlock value and help reduce the costs of offshore wind.”