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Siemens Gamesa exec sets out how much offshore wind UK needs in next auction

Labour government and energy secretary Ed Miliband are under huge pressure to deliver massive auction round for new wind and solar projects this year

Darren Davidson is vice president of Germany’s Siemens Energy and its turbine-making subsidiary Siemens Gamesa in the UK.
Darren Davidson is vice president of Germany’s Siemens Energy and its turbine-making subsidiary Siemens Gamesa in the UK.Photo: Siemens Energy
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The vice president of Siemens Gamesa in the UK has set out how much offshore wind the country needs to procure in its next renewable energy auction to get back on track for its 2030 clean power target.

Darren Davidson, vice president of Germany’s Siemens Energy and its turbine-making subsidiary Siemens Gamesa in the UK, told Reuters that the country must procure 6GW of offshore wind capacity in its upcoming round, AR7.

The Labour government is aiming to have 43-50GW of offshore wind online by the end of the decade. This will form the backbone of the renewables capacity it needs to fulfill its broader pledge to all but eradicate fossil fuels from the grid by 2030.

Davidson, speaking at Siemens Gamesa’s turbine factory in Hull, which opened in 2016, said that the “last five years have really proven that when we've got that visible pipeline of projects it allows us a greater ability to invest.”

The Hull factory has recently been producing blades for 14MW offshore wind turbines that will power the 1.4GW Sofia project being built by German power giant RWE.

The UK currently has 15.8GW of installed offshore wind capacity and is a long way off track – BloombergNEF estimates by as much as 10GW – to meet Labour’s 2030 target.
That target was recently made much harder by Denmark’s Orsted pulling the plug on the Contract for Difference (CfD) it was awarded last year for its 2.4GW Hornsea 4 project.

Given the long lead times for offshore wind projects, the consensus is that the UK has just two more auctions – this year’s and next – to procure the capacity it needs to meet the target.

The government is currently in the midst of a radical overhaul of the auction process, which has resulted in this year’s auction being pushed back and the possibility that the results for offshore wind won’t be confirmed until 2026.
The UK’s biggest ever CfD round for offshore wind came in 2022, when it procured just under 7GW of fixed bottom capacity. Since then, however, it has procured just 960MW of fixed-bottom capacity that still set to be delivered following the Hornsea 4 halt.
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Published 3 June 2025, 14:34Updated 3 June 2025, 14:34
Siemens EnergySiemens GamesaUKEurope