Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 9TH - 15TH MARCH 2018 | 7 Policy & Regulation The momentum of renewable energy is unstoppable Offshore wind has the potential to be the backbone of a future world that runs entirely on green energy. View from the top Matthew Wright, managing director, Ørsted UK I t will soon be my one-year anniversary at Ørsted and, ever since joining the com- pany, one thing has become very clear to me: the momen- tum behind renewable energy is unstoppable. The traditional energy sys- tem in the UK is breaking down and being replaced with a new energy paradigm, based around green power and smarter tech- nology. This makes it a very exciting time for the industry – and particularly for renewables. One of the key factors in the transition has been the deploy- ment of offshore wind at mas- sive scale, allowing costs to be reduced dramatically. Last year, Britain accounted for more than half of new offshore wind power capacity built in all of Europe, installing 53 per cent of the net 3.15GW across the continent. Six months ago, Ørsted won a government contract to build the world's largest offshore wind- farm, Hornsea Project Two, at a price 50 per cent lower than the previous auction just two years earlier. The project will have a capacity of 1.4GW – that's bigger than the last nuclear power station completed in the UK. This reduction in cost has surprised many people but now makes the decision to include more offshore wind in our future energy mix an easy one. Accord- ingly, the industry is currently working to deliver an ambitious and transformational Sector Deal to capitalise on the UK's global leadership position in offshore wind. We hope this will lead to 30GW of offshore wind capacity being deployed by 2030. As importantly, the Sector Deal can play a pivotal role in building a world-class supply chain for the growing interna- tional market in offshore wind, boosting productivity and cre- ating thousands more skilled, long-term jobs across the coun- try. This represents the very essence of the UK's Industrial Strategy – leveraging a source of competitive advantage in domes- tic markets to exploit opportuni- ties overseas. This is good news for UK plc and you only have to look at what's happening in the Humber to see the massive success story that offshore wind has become, and the burgeoning supply chain opportunities it can create. Just a few weeks ago, we announced Siemens Gamesa as the exclusive turbine supplier for Hornsea Project Two, with the majority of turbine blades to be made in its factory in Hull. The Siemens Gamesa Hull facil- ity is state of the art, employing hundreds of local people. It has already been producing blades for our Race Bank and Walney Extension projects in the UK, and is ideally placed to serve the extensive Northern European offshore wind market. Over in Grimsby, we're seeing huge redevelopment thanks to the renewables sector. The town is rapidly becoming a world- class renewable energy hub that people from around the world are coming to visit, admire and learn lessons from. Offshore wind has the poten- tial to be the backbone of a future world that runs entirely on green energy, but of course there will need to be other ele- ments in that system too. That's why, at Ørsted, we're investing in energy storage and battery solutions; creating new flexible products for commercial and industrial customers; and build- ing a world-first waste-to-energy plant in Northwich, Cheshire, that will handle up to 120,000 tonnes of household waste per year. I'm therefore hugely optimis- tic about the UK's energy future, especially given the consistent political and government sup- port we've had to decarbonise our economy. No doubt there are plenty of challenges to over- come, but a world where smart grids and electric vehicles are powered by renewable energy may not be that far away. And as I approach my one-year Ørsted anniversary, I think this pros- pect really is something worth celebrating. Matthew Wright will be speaking at the Utility Week Energy Summit in Westminster on 21 June. For more information visit: event.utilityweek.co.uk/summit/

• Cover