UK Expects Over 100,000 Jobs in Offshore Wind by 2030 - gCaptain
UK Expects Over 100,000 Jobs in Offshore Wind by 2030 Close to 70,000 new jobs are expected to appear in the UK’s offshore wind industry by 2030, bringing the total to over 100,000. A recent report from the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) found that the fast growing industry would need an average of 10,000 new workers per year to meet goals set for 2030. The report expects most of those jobs to come in the next three years, with 56,000 new opportunities by 2026. The UK is aiming for 50 gigawatts (GW) of capacity by the year 2030, with 5 GW being from floating wind. Currently, the UK has 13.66 GW of the expected 50 GW capacity, second in the world behind China. The report looks to target areas with skill shortages such as engineers, turbine technicians, and planning. The offshore wind industry is focused on creating a strategy for recruitment and retention in order to achieve employment goals. The report also emphasizes engagement with youth in STEM fields to help create a skilled future generation of workers. “As has been set out just this morning, the 100,000 jobs in this industry by 2030 is remarkable when you think about the number and opportunities that provides, and the kind of areas typically where these are found,” said Graham Stuart, Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero. “Many in the areas where we seek as a government to level up to ensure that economic opportunity is to be found everywhere. The offshore wind industry is also making improvements in diversity. 20.6 percent of the workforce is now women, up from 16 percent in 2019. Under the UK Government’s Offshore Wind Sector Deal, that number is expected to rise to 33 percent. Workers from minority backgrounds are up to 7 percent from 3.8 percent in 2019. By 2030, 9-12 percent of workers are expected to be from ethnic backgrounds. Sign up for our newsletter
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: wind
Decades of government support for the development of wind energy has resulted in lower costs and a rapidly growing share of electricity generated by wind turbines. Wind in 2019 accounted for 7.3 percent of electrical generation, surpassing for the first time hydropower at 7.0 percent.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.