Carbon Trust and Ed Miliband launch global competition to cut the cost of offshore wind energy  

Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, will today launch a multi-million pound global competition being run by the Carbon Trust to find the best new foundation designs to support the next generation of offshore wind farms.

The competition has been developed to find winning foundation designs suitable for deeper sea water conditions (30-60m) to be used in large scale, at sea, demonstration projects in 2010-2012. The target is to deliver a full lifecycle cost reduction of 30% over existing foundations for deeper water. Existing offshore wind farms and those under construction are based on designs for installations close to shore in relatively shallow waters.

 

Launching the competition, Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, said:
“The Carbon Trust announcement today offers even more support to the offshore wind industry on top of the measures we have seen in the Budget. It’s time for the industry to seize the opportunity and take the money that’s there for advanced green manufacturing.”

“Offshore wind is an important part of our low-carbon future. We need low-carbon, secure energy supplies to ensure we meet our climate change goals.”

Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust, said:
“Building a low-carbon economy means making Britain a thriving global hub of innovation. We need technologies, individuals and companies to flourish and be continually challenged to come up with new designs and ideas to ensure the UK benefits from the move away from fossil fuels. This global competition is an opportunity for the very best designers to contribute to the future of this essential new industry. It’s time for Britain to be bold and offshore wind is a great example of a technology that with will deliver significant carbon reductions and huge economic value to the UK.”

John Sauven, Executive Director of Greenpeace, said:
“Gordon Brown personally pledged that the UK would meet its legally binding EU renewable energy target for 2020, and a massive expansion of off shore wind will be key to this. This investment in skills is a welcome first step, while the removal of barriers preventing renewable energy development such as planning delays, grid connections and the UK supply chain are also vital to ensuring the UK becomes a world leader in renewables.”

“Harnessing the UK’s wind, wave and tidal resources would give us clean, secure energy and create tens of thousands of jobs.”

Adam Bruce, Chairman BWEA, said:
“The Carbon Trust’s initiative comes at a crucial point in the development of the UK’s offshore wind sector. In order for Round 3 to deliver up to 25GW of capacity, we need to address the technological challenges of offshore deployment now. This competition will help retain the UK’s advantage as the key destination for large scale offshore wind investment.”

Rob Hastings Director of the Marine Estates, the Crown Estate welcomes this initiative by the Carbon Trust.“Delivering the vast potential for clean energy from the resources of the UK's seas and oceans provides both an essential and logical solution to our future energy needs. This design competition will help deliver an important component part to realise that potential.”

Entries will be sought from across the world from those including engineers, designers, academics, and research institutes. Each design will be rigorously assessed by an expert panel of judges with shortlisted entries receiving up to £100,000 for detailed assessment of the design concepts. The final winners will have their designs built and installed with funding from a consortium including the Carbon Trust.

Offshore wind is critical to the UK's carbon reduction and renewable generation goals. Analysis by the Carbon Trust has shown that the technology could be providing a quarter of our electricity needs by 2020, helping to create up to 70,000 new jobs, reducing carbon emissions by 14% and generating revenues of up to £8bn every year for the UK alone.

By 2020 up to 15,000 new foundations are estimated to be required with a global market worth up to £2.5bn which shows clear market potential for the winning designs.

Foundations are a key component of offshore wind turbines and, particularly in deep water, can account for up to 20% of project costs. By applying new design techniques to bring down that cost the Carbon Trust is helping the industry make deeper water sites much more commercially viable.