14 DAY TRIAL // A new report commissioned by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult is sure to give high officials in the United Kingdom something to ponder on. Thus, the report says that, by 2020, the country's offshore wind energy industry has the potential to annually inject some £6.7billion (€8.01billion / $11.15 billion) into the economy, and also support roughly 150,000 jobs.
The catch is that, in order for this to happen, the country would have to go into overdrive and install just enough wind farms to reach a total of 15GW of offshore wind capacity, specialists with the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult go on to explain. Click Green details that, although having the United Kingdom's offshore wind industry hit an overall capacity of 15GW and consequently support 150,000 jobs might sound quite impressive, it must be said that, of these jobs, just 34,000 would be direct ones.
The others, however, would be jobs in the wider United Kingdom economy, the same source tells us. Still, it must be noted that the 34,000 direct jobs would represent a 24,500 increase when the year 2013 is taken as baseline.
It its report, the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult argues that, even if the United Kingdom's offshore wind power industry does not manage to reach a capacity of 15GW by 2020, having it hit 8GW within said time frame would not be such a bad thing either.
This is because, under this second scenario, the GVA (Gross Value Add) to the country's economy would be one of £2.3 billion (€2.75 billion / $3.82 billion). Besides, the industry would support a total of 50,000 jobs, 11,000 of which would be direct ones.
By the looks of it, the United Kingdom is also especially well-suited to become a world leader in terms of offshore renewable energy technology development, manufacture and deployment. According to the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, this area is the one that provides long-term opportunity for the country.
“The UK is in a strong position today, leading the world in both deployment and ambition for offshore renewable energy. We have the industrial base, research capability, regulatory framework and supply chain to continue to prosper and lead,” Andrew Jamieson, the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, commented on this report.
“This report clearly demonstrates the significant potential economic value of offshore renewables and why it is worth the investment now to develop and grow sustainable industries delivering energy from our offshore natural resources,” he added.