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The Offshore Valuation
The Offshore Valuation was the first comprehensive long-term valuation of the UK’s offshore renewable energy resource that explicitly assesses electricity exports to Europe. It is widely acknowledged that within Europe, Britain holds the largest resource of offshore wind, wave and tidal power.
The report suggests that the offshore renewable energy industry in the UK, using less than a third of the total available resource, could:
Generate the electricity equivalent of 1 billion barrels of oil annually, matching North Sea oil & gas production
Create 145,000 new jobs in the UK and provide the Treasury with £28 billion in tax revenues annually
Ensure Britain could become a net electricity exporter
Result in cumulative carbon dioxide savings of 1.1 billion tonnes by 2050.
PIRC coordinated the group, which comprised of the following organisations: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Government, The Crown Estate, the Energy Technologies Institute, Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), RWE Innogy, E.ON, DONG Energy, Statoil, Vestas, Mainstream Renewable Power (MRP), and Renewable Energy Systems (RES). The study also received funding from the Committee on Climate Change.
There are three commonly held misperceptions of renewable energy: that the available resource is too small to be useful; that its inherently variable nature is too difficult to manage; and that it is too costly to develop.
A slew of new reports, profiled at a conference organised last Friday by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), fundamentally challenge these myths.
This past week saw the publication of The Offshore Valuation, a major new study supported by a broad consortium of Government and industry bodies and coordinated by PIRC. It is the first report to attempt a full economic valuation of the UK’s offshore renewable energy resource. Its findings have been startling: by developing less than a third of the practical wind, wave and tidal resource around the British Isles, we could become a net electricity exporter, generating by 2050 the electricity equivalent of 1 billion barrels of oil per year. Doing so could bring multiple benefits to the UK: £31 billion of revenues from electricity exports to Europe, 145,000 green jobs, and insurance against fossil fuel price volatility. Read more
The Offshore Valuation is the first comprehensive valuation of the UK’s offshore renewable energy resource over the long-term that explicitly assesses electricity exports to Europe.
It is widely acknowledged that within Europe, Britain holds the largest resource of offshore wind, wave and tidal power. Until now the full scale of the economic opportunity this represents has been unknown.
This new report suggests that the offshore renewable energy industry in the UK, using less than a third of the total available resource, could:
– Generate the electricity equivalent of 1 billion barrels of oil annually, matching North Sea oil and gas production
– Create 145,000 new jobs in the UK and provide the Treasury with £28 billion in tax revenues annually
– Ensure Britain could become a net electricity exporter
– Result in cumulative carbon dioxide savings of 1.1 billion tonnes by 2050.
The Offshore Valuation is published today by the Offshore Valuation Group, chaired by the Public Interest Research Centre. It is the first comprehensive valuation of the UK’s offshore renewable energy resource over the long-term that explicitly assesses electricity exports to Europe.
The Offshore Valuation Group is an informal collaboration of government and industry organisations that has commissioned an independent report to address the question: what is the value of Britain’s offshore renewable resource? The group includes the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments, The Crown Estate and eight companies across the energy sector.
The Offshore Valuation is the first comprehensive long-term valuation of the UK’s offshore renewable energy resource that explicitly assesses electricity exports to Europe.
“I welcome this report which, as the first of its kind, highlights the huge potential for low carbon energy generation off our shores. It sets out the scale of how much can be achieved if we set the right framework and work together to deliver the impressive potential from a low carbon economy and tackle the challenge of climate change.”
– Jane Davidson, Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing
It is widely acknowledged that within Europe, Britain holds the largest resource of offshore wind, wave and tidal power. Until now the full scale of the economic opportunity this represents has been unknown.
This new report suggests that the offshore renewable energy industry in the UK, using less than a third of the total available resource, could:
Generate the electricity equivalent of 1 billion barrels of oil annually, matching North Sea oil & gas production
Create 145,000 new jobs in the UK and provide the Treasury with £28 billion in tax revenues annually
Ensure Britain could become a net electricity exporter
Result in cumulative carbon dioxide savings of 1.1 billion tonnes by 2050.
The Offshore Valuation Group is a group of organisations drawn from across industry and government, chaired by the Public Interest Research Centre. The Group have provided funding, direction and detailed input to the project. Boston Consulting Group carried out the study.
The Offshore Valuation Group comprises the following organisations: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Government, The Crown Estate, the Energy Technologies Institute, Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), RWE Innogy, E.ON, DONG Energy, Statoil, Vestas, Mainstream Renewable Power (MRP), and Renewable Energy Systems (RES). The study also received funding from the Committee on Climate Change.
This is a project that originated as a recommendation in PIRC’s Climate Safety report and through a conversation with Ed Miliband, former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. PIRC is extremely grateful to the JJ Charitable Trust, the Mark Leonard Trust, and Network for Social Change for providing funding for this project, as well as to our core funders who have provided us with the space to develop this work.
“Having been involved for nearly two decades in the creation and establishment of the UK’s oil and gas industry, I find the first stirrings of Britain’s nascent renewable offshore energy sector very exciting… The publication of the Offshore Valuation is a major first attempt to put a real value on what the renewable energy resource around the coasts might bring in terms of jobs, investment, infrastructure creation, income and, of course, clean and affordable energy. It is required reading for all decision makers in the energy and environment sectors” – John D’Ancona, Director-General, Offshore Supplies Office (1981-1994)
