A new task force has begun work on drawing up a road map designed to ensure that the UK can make best use of its increasingly abundant offshore wind power generation resources.
The new research project, Solving the Integration Challenge, is a key element of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, which was announced by Government and industry in March.
The project will examine how to the UK can continue to decarbonise by building a reliable energy system while managing the variable demand and supply from renewable energy sources which the energy system looks set to increasingly rely upon.
The group will publish a road map identifying techniques, such as using electricity from offshore wind to generate and store hydrogen as a power source.
And it will examine how to introduce more flexibility into the UK’s energy system such as by expanding battery storage and use of demand side response.
The task force, which has been set up by the Offshore Wind Industry Council, will be led by Baroness Brown of Cambridge.
The baroness is also vice-chair of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and the industry’s Offshore Wind Sector Champion.
The task force also includes senior representatives from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Scottish Government, the Committee on Climate Change, National Grid, the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, the Energy Systems Catapult, engineering consultants Atkins, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and companies including ITM, Good Energy, Shell, Equinor, Vattenfall and Ørsted.
The CCC suggested earlier this month that the UK could increase its offshore wind capacity nearly tenfold by 2050, from 7.9 GW now to 75GW by 2050.
Baroness Brown said: “There is no doubt about the urgent need to be more ambitious in our plans to decarbonise electricity generation. With the transformative Offshore Wind Sector Deal in place, and CCC’s call for more offshore wind, the time is right for the UK to reach out and embrace innovative technologies which will help us to integrate more low-cost power from renewables onto the system. This will benefit consumers and create highly-skilled jobs, as well as leading by example on the global stage in taking practical measures against climate change.”