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A s the contribution from offshore wind to the UK's energy needs has increased, so has the industry's contribution to government cof- fers, with major manufacturers establishing a presence and then supporting a growing net- work of companies across the supply chain. The UK is now home to two of the sector's biggest equipment manufacturers. MHI Ves- tas expanded its plant on the Isle of Wight to manufacture its 70m-long V164-8.0MW blade, and Siemens' new facility at Green- port in Hull has recently completed the first batch of B75 blades – which at 75m are the longest in the world. Siemens is expected to create up to 1,000 jobs through its investment and MHI has boosted its workforce by more than 250 in the past two years. The offshore wind work- force in the UK is expanding, and today includes more than 200 manufacturers and 15,500 jobs. This increasing profile in the UK, com- bined with continued growth across the European market, has been critical in bring- ing costs down and also in ensuring further savings. With great strides already made on the technology front, much of the potential for further savings will come in areas such as maintenance, servicing and transport, all of which will best be delivered through increased competition and further industrial growth across the supply chain. The growing profile of the industry has not escaped the attention of the UK govern- ment, which appears to see an opportunity to capitalise. The workforce 10 | 3RD - 9Th MaRch 2017 | UTILITY WEEK A job-creation network Offshore wind supports not only large manufacturing plants but a growing network of smaller suppliers Technology Generation Review Big turbines cut costs I n January, The Offshore Wind Programme Board revealed that a £100/MWh aver- age levelised cost of electricity had been achieved four years early. From 2010/11 to 2015/16, it fell from £142/MWh to £97/MWh. The primary factor was advances in tech- nology, most clearly in turbines. In that five-year period, the ratings of the most com- monly used models have progressed from 2MW to 3.6MW to 6MW in a single turbine. Those scheduled to come online in the near future, such as Dong Energy's Burbo Bank Extension, will utilise 8MW turbines. At the same time, new cable and sub- station technology maximised transmis- sion efficiency and increased competition has driven down the costs of materials and maintenance. This, combined with a number of other factors, enabled the sector to spread further and wider out across the country's coastlines to today's 27 operations and a combined out- put of 38.7GWh, with a number of new devel- opments in the pipeline. OffshOre wind levelised cOst Of energy at final investment decisiOn (fid) Levelised cost of energy (£/MWh) 2010-11 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 2012-14 2015-16 2020 target 142 121 97 2015-16 FID projects Rampion Race Bank Galloper Walney Extension I & II Burbo Bank Extension Beatrice Hornsea I East Anglia I Offshore statistics 6.2% share of UK electricity currently being generated by offshore wind 90.8GWh The highest output recorded on a single day in the past calendar month 1,570GWh Total electricity generated by offshore wind the previous month 1.6TWh T otal electricity generated offshore wind, year to date 16.5TWh Total electricity generated by offshore wind the Past 12 months Generation comparison Offshore wind 2,850MW 6.2% Coal 3,327MW 7.2% Gas 21,341MW 46.4% Nuclear 7,516kMW 16.3% Snapshot: 27 February 2017 Wind speed (mph) and direction 8 8 16 10 3 34 3 7 14 13 19 26 30 32 36 26 31