Hogan Lovell OffshoreBook 2023 230809 OnlinePDF - Flipbook - Page 280
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United Kingdom
In January 2022, the UK Government
set out plans for a £60 million funding
injection for the development of floating
offshore wind technologies. Comprised
of £31 million of government funding
matched by £30 million from industry,
the funds are designed to stimulate
development through the Floating Offshore Wind Demonstration Programme.
This forms part of the £1 billion Net Zero
Innovation Portfolio focusing on the
development of innovative low-carbon
technologies.17
(f) The Offshore Coordination Project
In March 2020, National Grid as ESO, Ofgem and BEIS (the former Government
department responsible for energy,
which has been replaced by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
set up a project designed to assess the
development of a coordinated offshore
network, integrating offshore wind into
the onshore transmission network.
Phase 1, which completed in December 2020, indicated that an integrated
approach for all offshore projects had
the potential to save consumers £6
billion in capital and operating expenditure between 2020 and 2050, as well
as halving the number of new electricity infrastructure assets. There were
however concerns about deliverability,
and whether the integration required by
the project might risk missing the current
target of 40GW of offshore wind by 2030
(this target has been amended to 50GW
of offshore wind by 2030).
Phase 2 to evolve the project commenced in January 2021 and involves the
engagement of industry stakeholders
and the mapping of early stages for the
project. In July 2022, ESO published The
Pathway to 2030 Holistic Network Design.18 ESO have now commenced work
on the Holistic Network Design Follow
up Exercise and the scope has been
agreed through terms of reference.
(g) Offshore Wind Environmental
Improvement Package
In April 2022, the UK Government published Offshore Wind Environmental
Improvement Package Measures as part
of its British Energy Security Strategy
(BESS). The Government is seeking to
pass legislation which is intended to
deliver the measures in a far-reaching
Energy Bill which is currently working its
way through Parliament.19
As well as including the target of 50 GW
of offshore wind, including up to 5 GW of
floating wind, by 2030, the strategy also
outlined a series of measures which collectively aim to accelerate offshore wind
deployment whilst protecting the marine
environment, including the development
of an Offshore Wind Environmental
Improvement Package.
17 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/60-million-boost-for-floating-offshore-wind#:~:text=Floating%20offshore%20wind%20projects%20
will,parts%20around%20the%20UK%27s%20coastline.
18 https://www.nationalgrideso.com/future-energy/pathway-2030-holistic-network-design
19
