Gwynt y Mor, the world’s second largest offshore wind farm located eight miles off the coast of North Wales. Phot Credit: Ben Birchall/PA

Environment United Kingdom18. January 2025

Clean Energy Exports, from Under the Sea!

With the approval of five subsea power cables, Great Britain is preparing to use giant offshore wind farms, bringing the country closer to its goal of becoming an exporter of green electricity in the 2030s.

“As we shift to a clean power system more reliant on intermittent wind and solar energy, these new connections will help harness the vast potential of the North Sea and play a key role in making our energy supply cheaper and less reliant on volatile foreign gas markets and associated price spikes,” explains Akshay Kaul, the Ofgem infrastructure director.

As the energy regulator, Ofgem – or Office of Gas and Electricity Markets – approved three subsea cable projects to connect Great Britain to Germany, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, thus sharing renewable electricity across borders. There are also plans for new high-voltage power cables – known as interconnectors – to link British offshore wind farms to Dutch and Belgian waters. So far, Great Britain has a combined capacity of 11.7 gigawatts (GW) already operating or under construction. It is enough to meet the power needs of 11 million UK homes. The new projects will bring the total to 12GW by 2030 and 18GW by 2032.

Source:
The Guardian

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