Scotland throws down gauntlet in battle to become offshore wind hub

Scotland could emerge as one of the world's leading developers of offshore wind energy within the next decade, according to a new report that predicts the industry has the potential to create up to 28,000 jobs by 2020.

The report, entitled Scottish Offshore Wind: Creating an Industry, was commissioned by Scottish Renewables and Scottish Enterprise and aims to map out a series of scenarios for the future of the sector based on varying levels of private and public investment.

It concludes that plentiful and speedy investment in infrastructure and the supply chain, coupled with extensions to government incentives could add at least £7.1bn of value to the Scottish economy, while delivering 10.6GW of renewable power to the grid.

Conversely, Scotland could fail to capitalise on its huge wind resource if government support is diluted causing investors to put their money elsewhere.

Under the ambitious Scenario A, investors lured by Scotland's high winds would make all the necessary supply chain investments and grid upgrades necessary to deploy 10.6GW of offshore wind capacity by 2020, establishing the country as a leading exporter of offshore wind technologies and expertise.

Under the more moderate Scenario B, developers only build half the sites earmarked for development by 2020 resulting in little export of goods and services to international markets. However, the report estimated that under this scenario the sector would still generate more than 19,000 direct jobs in 2020, with the industry worth £4.5bn over the coming decade.

But in order to achieve either of these scenarios, the report warns that the Scottish government must deliver major reforms over the next few years in order to streamline consenting and planning processes, boost grid capacity and increase investment in skills development.

The report also warns that without urgent action Scotland could miss the chance to fully capitalise on its renewable energy resources.

Under two further scenarios, the report argues that a failure to accelerate the development of Scottish offshore wind farms will result in relatively few jobs being created as developers delay Scottish projects and import wind turbine technologies. Under the worst-case scenario, only 1.2GW of new capacity will come online over the next decade supporting just 900 new jobs.