The UK government launched on Thursday a joint government-industry Offshore Wind Sector Deal, which is expected to significantly raise the share of renewable energy generation by 2030 and help it overtake fossil fuel-powered generation for the first time in UK history.
By 2030, the UK government expects 70 percent of the electricity generated in the UK to come from low-carbon sources, with offshore wind power in the country's generation rising to 30 percent by 2030.
According to the latest quarterly figures from the UK's Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, the share of low carbon electricity generation accounted for a record high 56 percent in the third quarter of 2018, up from 54 percent in the same period of 2017, thanks to higher power generation from renewable sources.
Renewables share of electricity generation jumped to a record 33.1 percent in Q3 2018, from 30.0 percent in Q3 2017, with renewable electricity capacity at 43.2 GW at the end of the third quarter of 2018, up by 10 percent, or 3.9 GW, compared to a year earlier.
According to the new Offshore Wind Sector Deal unveiled today, the share of offshore wind of the annual UK power generation rose from just 0.8 percent in 2010 to 6.2 percent in 2017, and is expected to further rise to around 10 percent by 2020.
The UK government and the industry are committing to long-term certainty in renewable power contracts and investments in infrastructure, respectively, to boost the offshore wind industry in the UK.
The sector will deliver total infrastructure investments of over US$52.5 billion (£40 billion) by 2030, based on the sector's estimates, according to the deal. The UK government, for its part, will provide up to US$732 million (£557 million) available for future Contracts for Difference.
The deal is also expected to triple the number of jobs in the UK offshore wind sector to 27,000 by 2030.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More