Comment on Scottish offshore wind leasing round

Commenting on the results of ScotWind Leasing, the first Scottish offshore wind leasing round in over a decade, Dr Simon Cran-McGreehin, Head of Analysis at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said: “The UK is powering towards its target of 40GW of offshore wind by 2030, with each new generation of windfarms creating jobs and providing cheaper energy to insulate us from the volatility of international fossil fuel prices driven by actors such as Russia and evidenced by the current gas crisis. With the gas price so high, even the more expensive early renewables projects which helped to bring down the costs of these future projects are paying back money into the public pot.

“And by expanding the geographic spread of offshore windfarms - including through innovative floating turbines in deeper waters - these new leases will allow the UK to access more wind more of the time to further reduce our exposure to the volatile international gas market.”