25 years of British offshore wind

This report by Ember reviews 25 years of offshore wind development in Britain, tracing its growth from the first 'truly offshore' wind farm at Blyth in 2000 to a sector that now provides 17% of the country's total electricity generation. It highlights the industry's role in re-industrialisation, the success of the 'Contracts for Difference' policy, and the challenges posed by supply chain constraints and inflation.

• Since the completion of Britain's first offshore wind farm in December 2000, the sector has grown to provide 17% of the country's total electricity generation as of 2024. The industry now comprises 47 operational wind farms with 2,878 turbines, producing enough power for over 16 million homes annually.
• The offshore wind sector has become a significant employer and industrial driver in Britain, employing approximately 40,000 people, with 7,000 of those positions added in the last two years. The supply chain includes over 2,000 companies involved in activities ranging from port logistics to the manufacturing of cables and blades.
• Britain's 'Contracts for Difference' (CfD) support scheme, implemented in 2014, has influenced global energy policy, with 13 other countries adopting similar two-way auction processes. This mechanism reduced consumer costs during the 2022/2023 winter gas price spike, saving typical customers an average of £18.
• The scale of offshore wind projects has increased dramatically; Hornsea 2 was officially the largest in the world at 1.3 GW, and it is being surpassed by the Dogger Bank wind farm, which has a total capacity of 3.6 GW and is the first in Britain to utilize high voltage DC transmission cables.
• The industry faces significant headwinds including supply chain bottlenecks, financing pressures, and inflation. New-build gas turbines have become three times more expensive over three years, and similar cost increases in materials and interest rates have impacted the viability of wind projects.
• To secure long-term growth, the report argues for the standardisation of component sizes and deployment schedules to avoid lost learnings and logistics challenges. The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) is expected to release a standardisation roadmap for offshore wind in 2026.
• The UK government has established Great British Energy in 2025 as a publicly-owned company, which has been allocated £1 billion to invest in clean energy supply chains, specifically targeting floating offshore platforms and electrical cable manufacturing.

APA

Mayo, F. (2025). 25 years of British offshore wind. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/12/25-years-of-British-offshore-wind-1.pdf

Chicago

Mayo, Frankie. 25 years of British offshore wind. Ember, 2025. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/12/25-years-of-British-offshore-wind-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mayo |first1=Frankie |title=25 years of British offshore wind |publisher=Ember |date=8 December 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/12/25-years-of-British-offshore-wind-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mayo2025years, author = {Mayo, Frankie}, title = {{25 years of British offshore wind}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/12/25-years-of-British-offshore-wind-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }