UK Plans Record 6GW Offshore Wind Auction to Meet 2030 Targets

Darren Davidson, vice president of Siemens Energy UK&I, emphasized that the UK must award a record 6GW of offshore wind capacity in its upcoming Allocation Round 7 (AR7) auction to stay on track with government targets of 43-50GW by 2030, up from around 15GW currently. This target exceeds the previous auction record of 5.46GW set in 2019 and last year's AR6 auction, which awarded just over 5GW with £1.5 billion in funding. Davidson made these remarks during a visit to Siemens Gamesa’s turbine manufacturing plant in Hull, which has significantly expanded its capacity and workforce to meet growing demand. Siemens Gamesa has installed 10GW of offshore wind turbines around the UK coast and is currently producing large turbine blades for projects such as RWE’s Sofia wind farm and Scottish Power’s East Anglia Three. However, a Bloomberg report warns that the UK may fall short of these ambitious 2030 clean power goals due to supply chain issues, high interest rates, and investor uncertainty, posing challenges to the government’s renewable energy strategy. Davidson noted that having a visible pipeline of projects is crucial for enabling investment and scaling manufacturing capacity.