Floating offshore wind is one of six key innovation areas that should get a portion of the UK government’s GBP 500 million energy innovation programme funds, according to a report published by Scottish Renewables.
Floating offshore wind has the potential to open huge areas of the world’s deepest oceans to green energy generation. The UK is eyeing a global lead already, and funds invested on innovation could cement that advantage, according to Scottish Renewables.
Besides floating offshore wind, the report identified wave and tidal energy, storage technologies, low-carbon heat, systems integration, and flexible networks as five other key areas for energy innovation, and called on the UK government to work with industry to help guide investment to deliver a low-carbon, low-cost energy sector.
Hannah Smith, Policy Officer at Scottish Renewables, said: “The UK Government’s commitment to double the spend on energy innovation to GBP 500 million over five years has the potential to drive dramatic advances in our energy system. We believe developing an Energy Innovation Strategy to guide this investment would get the most out of every pound spent. Government is in a unique position to mobilise a variety of resources and agencies, creating the right landscape for innovation to occur. This would lay the foundations for British businesses developing innovative products and services to flourish.”