Valuable commitment to wind power can enter deeper waters: Cristina Garcia Duffy
RWE and KKR’s £12bn commitment to deliver Vanguard East and Vanguard West wind farms signals confidence in Britain’s renewable energy sector. These will provide 2.8GW of electricity onto the UK grid, equivalent to around three million homes’ electricity needs, becoming fully online for 2030.
Their significance extends beyond these projects. Technology innovation and long-term policy certainty have transformed offshore wind from Britain’s first two turbines into 16.5GW of grid-connected capacity, producing around 19 per cent of our electricity.
Britain should be proud of its leadership in this sector. It rests on engineering ingenuity, ample access to seabed, as well as strong winds. This is an innovation-driven sector: from materials, to wind turbine design, cables carrying electricity ashore, technology connecting wind farms to the grid, to how wind farm operations are optimised. And all of this in some of the most hazardous environments on the planet.
The technical and system advances have turned an offshore resource into power for homes and businesses.
Wind has also changed our energy economics. It has no fuel bill and reduces our reliance on gas that we have seen subject to volatile international markets. Without wind power, Britain would require more gas-fired generation or power imports.
Research examining wind power more broadly estimated a net benefit of £104.3 billion for UK energy consumers between 2010 and 2023, after support costs. It concluded that investing in gas instead would have increased gas demand and prices. One new wind farm will not cut bills immediately: prices reflect network, balancing and wider market costs. But the choice is between homegrown infrastructure and greater reliance on gas whose price Britain cannot control.
Yorkshire understands the industrial significance. The Humber and East Yorkshire show what happens when national ambition meets local capability: ports gain new purpose, people acquire skills and manufacturing businesses find markets. Offshore wind’s engineering, manufacturing and digital supply chains also reach far inland.
That experience is being built upon nationwide: through testing and engineering in the North East; Scotland’s offshore workforce and renewable resources; and opportunities in deepwater wind, ports and component manufacture in Wales.
None of this happened by accident. It is hard fought for and the prize is for the patient.
Successive governments and industry took a long-term view. A stable framework gave developers confidence and innovators a market. Research, testing and experience at sea improved performance and reliability and brought down fixed-bottom wind costs.
That is effective industrial policy in action: not simply setting deployment targets, but sustaining conditions in which technology improves and businesses grow. RWE and KKR’s commitment shows how this attracts capital at scale to support UK energy infrastructure growth.
The next test lies in deeper waters. Floating wind and deeper-water hybrid foundations offer access to more of Britain’s resource, but affordability requires sustained innovation. Better substructures, moorings and dynamic cables, alongside advances in manufacturing, installation and maintenance, will be critical.
Fixed-bottom wind shows that cost reductions are not automatic, yet are realisable: innovation, deployment and learning must reinforce one another.
Let me be clear, Britain must industrialise more, industrialise further, and gain more value from what it builds. At the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, our testing facilities and engineering expertise help turn ideas into technologies ready for sea. Validating performance and reliability helps manufacturers, developers and operators manage risk and reach the market.
We help Mayors, local authorities and central Government identify supply-chain strengths and businesses to recognise where they can compete. Our technical expertise also informs policy on infrastructure, innovation and skills.
RWE’s announcement is evidence of what sustained ambition can achieve. The Humber and East Yorkshire helped demonstrate what was possible; that opportunity now stretches across the United Kingdom.
Innovation helped put Britain at the forefront of offshore wind. Keeping it there means backing technologies and the systems that connect them. That commitment can strengthen energy security, attract investment and generate productive growth for decades.
Cristina Garcia Duffy is Interim Chief Executive for the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult