Sectors
Offshore wind
Funding model: Contracts for Difference (CfD)
The UK's offshore wind advantage
The Clean Power Action Plan set a capacity range of 43-50GW by 2030, underpinned by annual auction rounds under the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme.
UK deployment is currently second only to China. The offshore wind sector in the UK saw £7.9 billion of public and private investment in 2025 (BloombergNEF Energy Transition Investment).
Commercial opportunities in offshore wind are abundant, from the North Sea to the East Irish Sea, Celtic Sea and the English Channel.
UK supply chain
Offshore Wind is a priority area in the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy 2025, reflected in the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan. The UK hosts manufacturing capability for advanced turbine technology (tower, blades, nacelles), foundations and substructures, and electrical systems and cables. These include Vestas, Siemens Gamesa and JDR Cables.
The government, Great British Energy, industry and The Crown Estate will invest £1 billion in offshore wind supply chains. This includes £300 million announced by Great British Energy in April 2025, £400 million from The Crown Estate, and £300 million from the offshore wind industry.
Floating offshore wind
The UK has the world’s largest pipeline of floating offshore wind projects, with over 28GW already agreed based on seabed exclusivity. Floating offshore wind has been identified as a key driver of future growth in the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy 2025. It can leverage existing expertise from the oil and gas sector to gain first mover advantage in this emerging sector, a global market worth up to £1 trillion by 2050 as shown in Renewable UK's 2050 Vision report.
Strategic priorities for investment
The UK has designated the following high-value manufacturing components as key strategic priorities in fixed bottom and floating offshore wind:
- floating substructures
- floating anchoring and mooring systems
- blades
- monopile foundations
- towers
- dynamic, export and inter-array cables
- transition pieces
- port infrastructure
- nacelle and hub
- specialist offshore logistics and installation vessels
- specialist floating operations and maintenance vessels
- tier 2 plus supply chain manufacturing
Other significant investment opportunities
- portside infrastructure supporting the manufacturing, installation, operation and maintenance of fixed foundation offshore wind turbines
- large-scale, deepwater ports for fabrication, assembly, storage and deployment of floating offshore wind turbines
- operations and maintenance bases and related infrastructure
- high-voltage power cable manufacturing for interconnection
- future offshore transmission owner (OFTO) tender rounds to bid for newly built and commissioned OFTO assets, which connect an offshore wind farm to the UK onshore transmission system
- high potential opportunities in Teesside, Humber and Cromarty and Moray Firths
Case studies
Hywind Scotland
The 30MW Hywind Scotland Pilot Park was the world’s first floating offshore wind farm, established in 2017 by Equinor. Hywind Scotland has achieved the highest average capacity factor of all UK offshore wind farms every year since it became operational, proving the potential of floating offshore wind farms. Project CAPEX was £180 million. Read about Hywind Scotland.
Kincardine
Kincardine, which was the largest offshore wind farm at the time of its commission, operates 15km off the coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The farm – owned by Grupo Cobra (90%) and Grupo ACS (10%) – became operational in 2021. It has a capacity of 48MW and comprises five Vestas V164-9.5 MW and one V80-2 MW turbine, each installed on WindFloat® semi-submersible platforms designed by Principle Power. The total investment in Kincardine was £273 million.
Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank is the world’s biggest offshore wind farm and an important milestone in delivering Great Britain's decarbonisation goals. The Dogger Bank Offshore Development Zone, located between 125 and 290 km off the east coast of Yorkshire, extends over approximately 8,660 square kilometres and water depths range from 18 metres to 63 metres. The wind farm will be broken down into phases A, B, and C to be delivered by SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Eni. Total investment in Dogger Bank will be approximately £9 billion. Explore Dogger Bank.
Siemens Gamesa
Siemens Gamesa invested £186 million to expand its already highly successful blade factory in Hull by 41,000 square metres making it the UK’s largest offshore wind manufacturing facility. The investment saw the creation and safeguarding of over 1000 jobs. Learn more about Siemens Gamesa.
Smulders
Smulders has announced a £70 million investment in new equipment and infrastructure at their existing site in Wallsend, Newcastle. The investment will enable Smulders to manufacture offshore wind turbine transition pieces, and in turn create and safeguard 325 jobs. Find out about Smulders.
SeAH Wind
SeAH Wind has announced a £900 million XXL monopile manufacturing facility at Teesworks, Teesside. It is anticipated that the facility will be one of the world’s largest monopile facilities for offshore wind turbines. Discover SeAH Wind.
JDR Cable Systems
JDR developed a £130 million state-of-the-art subsea cable manufacturing facility in Cambois, near Blyth. Construction began in 2022 and the facility opened in June 2026 which the company says expands its capacity to supply inter-array, interconnector and export cable systems for offshore wind projects. Read about JDR Cable Systems.