Scotland consulting on huge new offshore wind target

The Scottish government is consulting on a revised target of delivering up to 40GW of new offshore wind capacity by 2035-2040.

Gillian Martin, the Scottish government’s Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy, announced the new target today at RenewableUK’s Global Offshore Wind summit taking place in London.

Martin said that “we must acknowledge the impact that headwinds in the global economy are having on projects in Scotland and the UK and beyond.”

There are challenges arising from “current market volatility,” he said, adding that the government is “doing everything in our power to address those challenges.”

“The scale of the potential prize, which is really a once in a generation opportunity, is really too great to miss.”

In this light, Martin said she was “pleased to announce today that we have launched a public consultation on an updated policy ambition for offshore wind in Scotland.”

“We’ve lifted our sights,” she said, with the government “now consulting on an ambition of up to 40GW of new offshore wind capacity to be delivered by 2035, 2040.”

“This updated policy ambition will reinforce our commitment to maximising the deployment of offshore wind in Scotland and support the energy transition.”

The massive uplift, in addition to existing capacity, is underpinned by the potential projects emerging from the giant ScotWind and INTOG leasing rounds, accounting for more than 35GW between them.

The Scottish government published details of the consultation online today.

Currently, the Scottish government has a target of hitting up to 11GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. The UK has a target of hitting 43-50GW of capacity by the end of the decade.