£1 billion investment in UK offshore wind supply chain will create thousands of high-quality jobs

Commenting on today’s announcement by the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband at RenewableUK’s Global Offshore Wind conference in London that the Government and the UK’s publicly-owned clean power company Great British Energy are working with the wind industry and The Crown Estate to invest £1 billion in supply chain development, RenewableUK's Deputy Chief Executive Jane Cooper said: 

"A concerted focus from industry and Government on growing the offshore wind industry's supply chain in the UK could deliver an extra 10,000 jobs between now and 2035, boosting the UK's economy by £25 billion. Our sector is stepping up, working closely with the Energy Secretary and the Crown Estate to create new opportunities for manufacturing high-value goods like turbine towers, blades, foundations and cables, and providing high quality jobs building, operating and maintaining offshore wind farms.

“Our ambition is to transform quaysides around our coastline into clusters of global excellence in offshore wind, bringing new jobs and investment to communities which often badly need economic renewal”.

Industry Co-Chair of the Offshore Wind Industry Council Richard Sandford said:

“Growing our supply chain will help prevent bottlenecks that can increase costs and cause delays, benefitting developers, consumers, and our Clean Power Mission. Industry OWIC members are working to match the Government’s funding to support a homegrown supply chain and drive long-term sector growth. It’s vital that industry and Government keep working together to remove barriers, enabling greater capacity through clean power auctions, and securing more investment for the supply chain”.

More details on RenewableUK’s 2-day Global Offshore Wind 2025 conference and exhibition in London are available here.